Circle Remade
by Jess Starflower
Summary: Less than one year since “Magic Steps”, Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Continued inside. COMPLETE!
1. New Faces

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter One: New Faces

Sage grinned. Finally, back from a campaign in civilization! She grabbed a proffered mug of cider and drank deeply. Being twelve and still a, what her group called, "virgin soldier", she wasn't allowed any alcohol. But warm, sweet cider was good enough for her.

The young girl looked around the bar over the rim of her mug. Even though she was young, even by normal standards, she still knew how to use a blade and defend herself. Woe to whatever man thought that her brown, almond shaped eyes and slim figure made for an easy target. She had given out more than her fair share of insults and been in more sword fights than she could count. Not to mention more knives hidden on her person than most men owned in their entire lives.

The low-lit tavern rang out with yells and good-natured insults. She looked over the shoulder of Garis to see him playing cards. "You know what Captain will do when he sees you gambling." She said to him. It was more of a shout, but in the roar of the inn, no one noticed.

"I don't plan on losing my hard earned wages." He shouted back at her. She rolled her eyes. No one planned on losing, that's how you made money. Being part of a mercenary band hadn't taught her much, but that was one of them.

"Looks like someone's going home without a shirt!" Garis whooped, and laid down his cards. A straight flush.

"Oh no, my friend, I believe I am the winner." A tall stranger sat in the shadows, his hood pulled all the way up. He lay down is cards. "I think that all of you owe me a considerable amount of money."

Sage narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed the stranger's wrist. Before he could react, she had pulled out several cards, all in the top half of the deck.

"Cheat!" She screamed, and drew her sword. The other members of the card game stood up quickly, drawing their belt knives accordingly.

The stranger glanced from face to face; then kicked the table over. Garis was pinned under it, but she didn't notice. She went after the cheater. Unfortunately, so did about every other man in the bar. Most things were tolerated, but cheating a man out of his wages was not one of them.

Captain waded in and started pulling out those of his company. Sage dodged his arm and ran out after the man. Time for her to prove herself and earn a surname! The fight came outside, after the fleeing man. She dodged many blows aimed at random, coming up alongside the man.

He ran hard, faster than most other men in her company. But she was young and fast, and hadn't been drinking ale for most of the evening. She jumped on top of him, tackling him to the ground, reaching for his purse.

Then, a searing heat erupted from her shoulder. She gasped, and the man pulled his purse, and himself, out from under her. She grabbed her shoulder and winced. A knife was imbedded a little higher than her armpit, and was as deep as the handle. She bit her lip, trying to muffle a scream.

The man bent down and picked up her fallen sword. He grabbed her long black braid, ignoring the spiked wire she had braided into it. "Say goodnight, interloper." He snarled. Then, blackness.

xxx

Alida Falstaff gazed at the novice steadily. He shifted uncomfortably. This wasn't supposed to be his job; he was an apprentice to Gorse, the head cook, not a welcome committee! She could feel his uneasiness from where she was standing, halfway across the room. She could see him tug his gaze away from her and back to her aunt and uncle.

"She's your problem now!" Her uncle picked up her trunk and shoved it into the hapless novice. "Running away was the last straw. We can guarantee her a good education here, and that's as far as our generosity to shirkers goes!" He turned and walked off, leaving her aunt to scurry after him, and the apprentice to look at her awkwardly.

"Welcome to Winding Circle temple, miss." He said apologetically.

Alida gave him a small smile. He would change his tune soon enough. Everyone did. Besides, she didn't plan on staying here for that long. Before she finally ran, a traveling Master Violinist had promised her an apprenticeship if her guardians would agree. Seeing as she didn't have any anymore, that didn't seem like a problem.

The novice raised his arm. Alida winced automatically, taking a half-step away from him. He gave her a strange look and finished the motion, beckoning for her to follow him outside. She gave herself a mental slap. _Not everyone is like that,_ she told herself. _This is a temple, re-lax! _No matter how many times she told herself that, she knew those wounds would never heal. As long as the thin, white scar shown on her arm, she would still fear any hand raised, even if not in anger.

The novice half carried, half dragged her trunk out the door. Not that it was that heavy; Alida had been shuffled around enough times to never have accumulated too many possessions. Her bright green eyes squinted in the sunlight, tawny hair whipping around her face in the sudden breeze.

"Lark!" He shouted, relieved. Alida turned to see a dedicate in green robes coming up the path.

"This is a new student, Alida Falstaff. Could you show her to the dormitories? I was supposed to fetch some fresh herbs from Dedicate Crane but then…" He trailed off.

"Of course, Darian go ahead head, I'm sure Crane will be more than happy to share his newest sprouts with the rest of the temple." The woman said.

Darian snorted. Alida could sense his disbelief. _Was this Crane mean?_ She wondered. It wouldn't have been the first time she thought she was going someplace safe, only to find yet another reluctant caretaker.

He ran off, leaving Lark with Alida. "Well, I'm sure you've had a rough trip, let's get you over to the dormitories." She smiled at Alida. Alida stared her down until she cleared her throat awkwardly. "I'll get your trunk then…"

"Wait!" Alida cried, and ran forward. She opened the trunk and dug out her violin. "I'll carry this." She said.

Lark raised her eyebrows, but didn't say anything else. She picked up the trunk and started walking.

xxx

Eldred fa Ashe was falling over on his horse from exhaustion. Riding for two days, no rest except that which could be gotten by sleeping in the saddle or watering the horse, was taking its toll on him. If you had told him a fortnight ago that Earl Candelas would be laying siege to the stronghold of the fa Ashe family, he would have called them insane.

And yet, here he was, riding as hard as he could, trying to reach Duke Vedris as quickly as possible and get him to send aid to his besieged family. The family that had taken him in when he was a baby left on the doorstep of the keep. The family that had adopted him formerly, the family that had made him their own after their own son had died of the pox.

His horse stumbled and fell over. He dropped from the saddle and landed in the dirt. Tears streaked down his face. Three hundred mile in two days, on horseback. Fifty miles left to go. He hurt everywhere. How nice it would be not to ever get up. To fall asleep and find out the past week had just been a nightmare, he would have given anything to believe them and make it true.

But he couldn't. He had to get up. For everyone. Everyone who had risked their lives to get him out, everyone he would let down if he gave up. Everyone that would die if he didn't get to Duke Vedris soon.

It took every ounce of strength in his body to stand up, and then he leaned against a tree for support. He looked over and saw that his horse would never get up again. He also realized that he couldn't carry the trail packs the last fifty miles. Not unless he really wanted to kill himself.

This was it. He would either have to make it, or die, along with the rest of the five hundred people that were relying on him to get help.

_Time to be strong, Eldred. _He told himself.

Two nights ago, his father, Nathilred fa Ashe had woken him from his hard pallet in the entry hall of the Keep. The pair of them had shared sentry duty, along with the rest of the few guardsmen that had been deemed necessary for the small fiefdom in Northern Emelan.

"Our supplies are dwindling, Eldred. More importantly, if we do not get more soldiers, Candelas will merely have to wait until he gets enough soldiers to surround us and overwhelm our forces." His father had told him. Eldred was still blinking sleep out of his eyes, but his mind was on high alert. His father had taken on the tone of voice he used when dealing with something serious.

"Here is a pack. Inside is a letter to Duke Vedris, calling for aid. The capital is about three days riding away. A small group of our men will ride out, providing a distraction for you to get away. Take a horse off of the enemy's lines and ride hard; don't look back."

Eldred was still comprehending all of this when he turned to go away. "Eldred." His father called to him, using his most serious tone. Nathilred looked him in the eye. "Don't make their sacrifice worthless." Eldred nodded. A small force, riding out into the dark, toward a company of hardened battle-fighters was suicide. But they would do it, to give their friends and families a chance to see the sun again.

He grabbed the pack with the letter. It was his turn now.

xxx

Comas came out of his meditative state to find that he had weaved a yard of cloth in one sitting. He smiled and carefully cut away the cloth. A fortnight ago, he would have had to ask Lark to do it, but he had recently mastered weaving simple designs and removing a finished piece from the loom. It was good too, because Lark was out at the moment, and asking people had never been a strong suit. Or even talking, for that matter.

Comas sat back on his heels. Approaching people still gave him the jitters, but with Lark's help, he had trained himself not to run at the first sign of a visitor. Especially when Lady Sandrilene fa Toren came to visit, as she did every now and again.

Unconsciously, he felt for the tiny thread of power leading to Lark. He had discovered this recently as well; the ability to create a small thread of magic connecting him to another mage. He supposed it could work with a person with no magic, but he never had any contact with anyone who wasn't a mage. He hadn't even ventured outside Discipline since the incident with Dedicate Crane.

He shivered at the memory. Earlier that year, Rosethorn had sent him along with some tomato cuttings to Dedicate Crane's greenhouse. Only the fear of Rosethorn had made him face his fear of the outside world. He had arrived without incident at the greenhouse, handed off the cuttings, but had been so intimidated that he tried not to make eye-contact and kept his head down. Staring at his feet, he hadn't noticed where he was going until he had already knocked over a tray of plants, which created a domino effect until almost the entire greenhouse was wiped out. He had slipped away from Crane, who was so distracted by yelling at his novices he wouldn't have noticed if a cannon went off outside room. Comas hadn't emerged from his room for a week after that.

Lark kept telling him his shyness was crippling him, but at least she wasn't yelling at him to 'be a man' and show more maturity as a twelve-year-old. An age where he should have been taking his manhood rights, if he had stayed in his small village on the Eastern frontier of Emelan.

A small thread of power trickled toward him. He smiled and gestured. The power, extra energy from some spell in the temple, came towards him like a puppy to owner. He condensed it in his hand and placed it into the cloth, weaving it seamlessly into the fabric. The magic must have come from a spell against fire, which were often used in the kitchen, and was now placed into the weave, making the textile impervious to flame of a certain extent.

He had discovered this talent not to long ago too. He could also see threads of magic in the air, but he hadn't told anyone, even Lark, afraid that he would have to be moved. He had just gotten comfortable here, and he wasn't about to leave anytime soon. Dealing with it himself had given him more headaches than imagined, but he was still at Discipline cottage, so he didn't let it get to him.

A strengthening of his connection to Lark told him she was coming. He was ready for her in the kitchen with a mug of tea.

**Note: Sorry to die-hard Tamora Pierce fans if I don't use some of the words from Emelan, but I'm going purely on what I remember from the books. I don't know if there is a violin in that world, but that's why it's called fan FICTION. Thanks, and remember to review.**


	2. Meetings

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Two: Meetings

Sage woke up to hideously bright lights and a woman in a blue habit peering down on her. "Gah!" she cried and leaned away, hitting her head on a side table.

"Careful dearie! You took a very nasty knife in the back, we don't want you to get a concussion as well." The woman went back to changing the bandages on Sage's shoulder. Sage winced. Even for someone who's seen her fair share of mutilating wounds, it was quite different when it was you.

The knife had gone all the way through, leaving a bloody wound. The edge must have been serrated. She supposed it must have been worse, she had seen what happened when wounds go to infection. The Healers at this place must have been very good to patch it up as they did. Speaking of which…

"Where am I?" She said. Very polite, it was not a good idea to make healers angry, especially when they could cause as much pain as they took away.

"Of course, love, you wouldn't know." The woman turned toward her and smiled. "I am Dedicate Rosemary of the Water Temple. You are at Winding Circle Temple, harriers brought you here after they found you in that bar fight. Who, by the way, is in custody, so you won't have to worry."

Rosemary turned back to rolling bandages. "What is your name, by the way. We need to contact your folks." Seeing Sage's look, she continued. "We don't charge for Healings here at the Temple, but you need to get back to you family, they will be worried about you."

"I doubt that." Sage muttered. Her family had sold her to slavers before she escaped and joined the mercenary band.

"What was that?" Rosemary asked.

"Nothing. My name is Sage, I'm traveling with Company 7, it's a…"

"A mercenary group? You poor dear, traveling with a bunch of ruffian men banging away at each other with swords and such-like! Good thing we found you when we did."

"No, it's alright I'm _with _the Company. When can I go, I need to get back to them. They're leaving on the morning tide, and I can't miss them!" Her voice had steadily been rising with panic.

"Shush dearie, you'll wake the other patients." The dedicate scolded. "And you've already missed them. It's noon, you've been out almost 12 hours."

Sage felt her chest constrict. They had left her? What was she going to do now? She didn't have a home… She fought down the rising panic.

"Don't worry, you can stay here at Winding Circle. I'm sure Honored Moonstream will make an allowance this once." Rosemary assured her. "You can move into the dorms as soon as you are fit."

Sage sank back onto her pillows. Her Company, her family, was gone. Rosemary bustled off to attend another patient, while Sage curled up like a toddler, her life crumbling away in front of her eyes.

xxx

Alida was hiding behind the outhouse when they found her.

She hadn't meant to do it; she only wanted to play her violin. Then, for some reason, she began to think of a girl in her dorm named Mae. She had teased Alida to no end the first day, on account of her having no "proper" clothes and a family that had willingly given her up. Alida was used to it, but it still burned.

Alida was thinking of her embarrassment and pain when Mae started gasping on her bed. A few of her friends gathered around her, but Alida hadn't really comprehended that. Everything had looked as if it was being viewed from the wrong end of a telescope. The room seemed to shrink, and all that Alida could think of was playing her violin; pushing all of her emotions into the notes.

She had finished the piece to find one of girls bringing in a dedicate at a run, and the rest of the girls gathered around Mae's bed.

"She just started gasping, then she started crying, and then she was like that!" The girl pointed. Through a gap in the group, Alida could see what they were talking about. Mae was curled up in a ball, dried tear streaks on her face, and shivering, biting her nails.

The dedicate bent down to comfort Mae, while Alida stared at her violin with dismay. _Not again! _She thought. And this time she had no where else to go when the Temple threw her out. The Master she had been planning on going with had left town about a moonturn earlier. Besides his offer would have expired by then, the dedicates had been sharper than she had previously thought.

All of this flashed through her mind in an instant. She grabbed her violin case, threw it over her shoulder and ran out of the room, while everyone's attention was still locked on Mae.

She had packed her violin safely in its case behind a corridor, and then began to run with earnest.

She had to hide. Maybe they wouldn't have noticed that she was in the room while Mae began to hurt, and if they couldn't prove she was there, she couldn't be thrown out. She was gasping for breath now; the instrument was getting heavier with every step.

She fell behind one of the outhouses, pulling in her violin close. _Why does this always happen?_ Alida thought despairingly. It wasn't enough that she could feel the emotions of everyone around her, no matter how painful or strong they were, no that wasn't enough! She couldn't even play her violin anymore without some catastrophe happening! She leaned against the case, tears streaming down her face. Everything was happening because of her stupid music!

She had tried to throw away her beloved instrument before to stop the feelings, but it hadn't worked. It never would. And no matter how many books she had read or searched for, she had never once found a reference to this kind of magic; ambient or not.

A part of Alida had been looking forward to coming to Winding Circle, when she learned that was her destination. But the dedicates had never looked at her any more than the other students, never sought her out to tell her that she had magic. There couldn't be any other explanation for the emotions than magic. _Unless maybe I'm just crazy, _she thought moodily.

She lay down and hugged her instrument close, not realizing she was falling asleep until it happened.

xxx

Sage had been in the recovery room for two days when they brought in a neighbor for her. It was a boy, looked to be about her age, and was out cold. She rolled over and pretended to be asleep.

"Poor lad, farmer brought him in, had found him half-dead with fatigue in the middle of the room. Managed to stay conscious until he got here, babbling about having to see Duke Vedris."

"Adolescents, what can you do."

"He gave the guard a letter, making him swear to give it to the Duke."

"Will he?"

"Of course, it had the fa Ashe seal on it. Must have ridden almost 400 miles to get here."

"Enough talk, Rosemary, get me some willowbark tea. I'm going to have to do a healing for some of these injuries. One of his ribs is broken, but most of this should be fine with a good rest."

After a boring few hours counting the floor tiles and waiting for the healers to leave, she was finally alone with the boy. She turned over and looked out him. He was still out cold. She lay back on her pillow and sighed. She had been looking forward to someone to talk to.

She blew air threw her lips for a while. Finally, she turned back over and looked at the boy again. He was tall, probably around 5'6". Curly red hair came down to his ears, framing a pale, freckled face. He _looked _if he had ridden 400 miles. There were several bruises, probably left from the healing. Healers didn't waste time and magic, on things that weren't life threatening. Purple bags under both eyes and lines on the forehead attested to a rough couple of days.

Sage glanced around for any lingering healers, than reached over and took a thin rod off of the windowsill. They were used for drawing the curtains, but were also useful for poking people with. After checking around for healers once more, she leaned over and poked him lightly on the chest.

"Wake up." She whispered. He didn't move. She poked him again, harder this time. When he still didn't move, she leaned over to him yelled, "Wham!" He still didn't stir. She rolled her eyes; then smiled slyly.

If she couldn't wake him, she would still have some fun. The dedicates always left a glass of water with their charges, in case they got thirsty while the healers were off duty. Sage picked hers up, which had been sitting in the sun for a while.

Placing his hand carefully in the glass, she set the glass on the floor. If she was lucky, the glass would get knocked over and spill all over the tile floor. She was bored, and all of her mercenary buddies knew to stay out of her way when she was bored and feeling wicked. Plus, she couldn't forget that it was these people who had caused her to get separated from her crew.

xxx

Comas had just finished hanging his new weaving in the kitchen when someone knocked on the door. Since he didn't have a connection, it wasn't anyone he had met before. That made him nervous. Luckily, Lark got the door before he got too torn up between answering the door and having to track someone down who would do it for him.

He peered out of the kitchen, looking at the newcomer. It was a girl, probably his age, looking thoroughly terrified, accompanied by an unknown dedicate in a red robe.

"Moonstream told me to bring her here. It seems that Discipline is going to get yet another addition." The dedicate said wryly.

"Oh Ember, you know that Comas is still terribly shy." Lark protested. Comas bit his lip; it didn't exactly help his self-esteem to know that the entire temple knew how timid he was.

"Sorry Lark, but my orders are clear. This here is Alida Falstaff. She can take Tris' old room if you want, it's the farthest from Comas' isn't it?"

"Very well, come in Alida. Do you have time for a cup for tea, Ember?"

"Can't. I need to get back in time for final bells."

Dedicate Ember bowed and left. Comas watched the girl stand in the middle of the hall, looking exceedingly awkward. She held an instrument case in front of her like a shield; a medium size trunk left next to her was battered and had peeling paint on it.

Lark turned toward the girl, "I remember you. The girl Darian greeted at the door, right?"

The girl nodded mutely. "Well, it looks like we will be staying together for a while. This is Discipline Cottage. Comas," She called. "We have a new resident come and greet her."

Comas came out of the kitchen apprehensively. The girl stared at him coldly. He bit his lip. This girl obviously didn't like him, and it didn't help that all he wanted to do at the moment was run back to his room and lock the door.

"This is Alida Falstaff. She'll be taking the room upstairs. Could you carry her trunk and show her her room?" Lark said carefully, letting him know that he could refuse. He merely nodded. If this girl, Alida, was going to be living with him in the same house, he might as well get used to the idea. Sooner rather than later.

"Follow me." He said shortly. He picked up the trunk and half carried, half dragged it up the stairs. Weaving didn't exactly put muscles on a frame. Alida followed, carrying her instrument. He led her to a room on the left of the stairs.

"Welcome home." He said, with a tentative smile. She gave him a look and pushed past him into the room. "Or not." He said under his breath.

"Look, I know you're not happy to have me here. The feelings mutual, and you don't have to worry about at it. I'll mostly stay in my room. I do play my instrument, and I'm not going to change for you're comfort. Okay?" She said.

Comas closed his mouth. Had he really been that obvious? After a second he started talking again. "Sorry, I'm not the best company, I know. I'm not all that great around people really." He twisted his hands behind his back and looked at the floor. "But, I've been lucky to be here alone for as long as it's been, so I suppose I'm due for another student in the cottage. I'm Comas, by the way. Weaver mage." He held out his hand awkwardly.

She looked at him critically for a moment before taking his hand slowly. "Alida Falstaff. Musician." She added.

"A musician mage? Never heard of one of those before." Comas said, drawing his hand back.

"I'm not a mage. None of the dedicates have said anything." She said, almost sounding sad.

"No, no, you've magic. I can see it." Comas said, staring at her up and down. Threads of power wove around her, connecting her to her instrument.

"Yeah, a novice like you can tell when someone has magic where no one else can." Alida said.

"I can see threads of power. You're connected to your instrument."

"It's a violin. Why didn't you say anything before?" Alida demanded.

Comas rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven't exactly told anyone I could see magic." He said, looking away. "If they knew, well, I don't know what would happen." He sank down on the bed.

Alida sighed and sat down next to him. "You and me both." They sat there for a while, before Comas cleared his throat. "You should start unpacking. My room is downstairs, next to Lark's workroom. See you at dinner." He said, then left.

Alida stared after him for a few moments, before taking his advice and opening her trunk.

**Note: What do you think so far? Why don't you tell me and REVIEW people!!! I haven't gotten any reviews so far; just click the little button at the bottom of the page. A little review goes a long way, it's the difference between me finishing the story and letting it rot. **


	3. Sage Gets Discipline'd

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Three: Sage gets Discipline'd

**Author's Note: First, I would like to apologize for the long wait in between updates. I have been on holiday for the past week, and had no access to a computer or the Internet. I was able to manage to write this one chapter on the plane ride. Also, I would like to forewarn you, this is all Sage. I couldn't wait to have to write everyone else's POV before getting around to Sage getting thrown into Discipline, so I made this whole chapter about her. Enjoy!**

Sage was poking at the so-called "strengthening food" the Healers had given her when Rosemary came back. Sage quickly shoved the chunk of carrot under her mattress.

"It seems as if you're on the mend, dearie." Rosemary said. "Pack up you're things, I've just received word that you are going to be moved to the girl's dormitory this afternoon."

"Excellent!" Sage said excitedly. Finally, she could get out from under the watchful eyes of the Healers and bust out of this place! Her plan was to ask around the right areas and find out where her Company had gone, and, that failing, would move off towards the Mercenary Guild headquarters and sign up with another Troop.

She paused. "What about him?" She asked, nodding at the boy. When he had woken up two days ago, he had started shouting about his family, a letter, and some other stuff she didn't understand. He had stopped after she asked him pointedly about his wet sheets.

Over the long, dull hours in the Infirmary, they had talked. She had learned his name was Eldred fa Ashe. A money-bag's name, but he was nice enough. She smiled. He had asked about her lack of a surname, the look on his face when she had told him she was a mercenary and hadn't earned one yet was priceless! If only there was a way to capture those times on paper…

They had exchanged stories, complained about the bitter tasting medicines the Healers gave them, and discussed possible ways to take back his family's Keep. Part of mercenary training had been in battle tactics, and Sage was one of the best in the Company, despite her tender age. She had tried explaining it once; it was if the earth was telling her troop movements and where to go. Everyone had dismissed it as her way of being modest. Not that it worked.

Eldred had seemed intrigued when she had told him about it, muttering something about magic. She didn't believe it. If she had magic, wouldn't the Healers have figured it out? She was in a hot bed of magical talent, the best mages in the country trained here, surely someone would have noticed.

Eldred was sleeping at the moment, and Sage felt a little guilty for not saying good-bye, but Rosemary was beckoning.

"He needs to stay a little longer, we have to make sure he is entirely recovered. I'll have someone let you know when he can leave the Hospital Wing, if you like."

"Yes please." Sage said politely. She resolved to stay at Winding Circle to say good-bye; then she was out of here!

xxx

_I am in hell,_ Sage thought that night. She was lying in bed, at a knothole in the wood about six inches above her head and trying to quench the urge to strangle the girl on the top bunk over her head. The sniveling idiot was blubbering with homesickness, having just gotten a letter from home.

Sage might have felt a little sorry for her, but the girl had been one of her chief tormenters that afternoon. Especially after she found out Sage had the bunk under hers. The girl and her cronies had whispered behind their hands and pointed at her, laughing at the worn clothing provided by the temple. She didn't know how much longer she could take it…

xxx

Sage rolled her eyes; then slammed the book down on her desk. She spun around to face the pair of giggling girls.

"Talking about someone behind their back is rather pointless if they're still in the room." Sage said conversationally.

"Eavesdropping on someone's conversation is rude." One of the girls said pointedly.

"Sticking your neb in someone else's business is grounds for a duel." Sage said. She stood up and slapped the girl with her gauntlet. It was one piece of her old armor she had managed to save from the garbage heap.

"You can't duel me!" The girl said, clearly shocked.

"If you want to back out you can. But let the record show that you backed down, making me the winner be default."

The girl clearly seemed at a loss for words "I…but…you can't…"

"I think you'll find that I can." Sage said, with a smug grin.

Meanwhile, the other girl had run off to find a dedicate. "Dedicate Cedar, that's the girl. She was going to kill us. She has daggers in her sleeves!"

"I wasn't-" Sage started, but was cut off as the dedicate reached over and pushed up her sleeves revealing said knives in their arm sheathes.

"I knew this would happen. When Winding Circle brings in street trash…" She trailed off, looking at Sage with an upturned nose.

"How dare you!" Sage stood up, but was interrupted yet again from a cleared throat in the doorway.

"Honored Moonstream." The dedicate sketched a quick bow. "I was just-"

"I know what you were doing, Cedar. Assumptions are rarely correct, but I believe that this one is. And if you would care to remember where a certain Briar Moss hailed from, you would do well to think before you speak." The dedicate blushed a deep scarlet.

"I only-" Sage began again, but Moonstream waved her hand.

"However, you did challenge these girls to a duel, and I cannot condone it." She sighed. "I'm afraid I will have to talk with Lark again. Discipline will be in need of a new bed."

"What is-" Sage said, but stopped when Moonstream gave her a look.

"Pack up your things and wait outside the dorms for someone to come and fetch you in about twenty minutes." The Head of Winding Circle Temple left as suddenly as she had arrived.

"What is it with people and not letting a girl get a word in edgewise?" Sage muttered, then proceeded to move her belongings and herself for the second time in two days.

**How was it? Do you like having only one character per chapter, or do you prefer the four to one chapter style? You have to REVIEW to tell me! Mucho love to ****Jellicle-in-the-box for adding me to her story and author alerts and submitting the one review I've gotten so far, and to Queen of the Jungle for adding Circle Remade to her Favorite Story. **


	4. Together

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Four: Together

Sage stepped in the doorway of her new home; Discipline Cottage. She sighed and put down her trunk. The smell of wood and…something else she couldn't put her finger on…assaulted her senses. She wrinkled her nose, the aroma made her want to sneeze.

A dedicate in a green robe strode in. She studied Sage for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before Discipline opened it's doors again." She mused. "My name is Lark, I am one of the keepers of Discipline. The other is Rosethorn, but she is out journeying with her student, Briar Moss."

Sage started. "Briar Moss? _The _Briar Moss? One of the four great mages?"

Lark smiled. "I don't know about _the _Briar Moss, but a powerful young mage by that name trained here with three others; Sandrilene fa Toren, Trissana Chandler, and Daja Kisubo. All are out journeying at the moment, except for Sandry, who is taking care of her Uncle, Duke Vedris. She comes by every so often, so you'll meet her soon enough."

Her eye's widened. Anyone with ears had heard of those four, the four young mages who had saved Emelan from pirates, survived an earthquake, and helped to combat the dreaded Blue Pox that had descended a few years back. Rumors had even surfaced that the four had obtained their mage credentials at thirteen, a feat unheard of until now. She had heard they had trained at Winding Circle, but it hadn't connected until now.

"But that is in the past, they have learned all they can from here and have left to learn more. You'll want to meet your roommates then…ah, here they are now." Lark looked up. Sage followed her gaze to see a pair of kids staring down at her from the second story. She dismissed them as children, even though they seemed to be about her age. _A soft pair of toffs, that's all._ She thought.

She studied them closely. The girl was pale with a smattering of freckles across her nose. Sage frowned. Maybe she had dismissed this girl to easily. Her dark green eyes looked as if they could stare right through you. Unruly, tawny hair with pale streaks was pulled back a ponytail. Her pale hands gripped the banister hard, showing her knuckles.

The boy was a different story. He looked like a frightened deer, ready to bolt at the slightest movement. Brown eyes were wide with fear, and his short brown hair looked as if it was standing on end. He was tall and lanky, with every movement showing his discomfort at her careful scrutiny. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he leaned against the wall, as if he might magically be able to sink into the shadows. She didn't know what he was afraid of, surely she didn't look that intimidating. On the other hand, maybe she did.

Being in a mercenary company, she had carefully created an aura of a hard fighter, showing off her battle scars with pride. A long, thin scar on her left cheek proved she had successfully earned her sword and shield, if not a surname. Namornese ancestry had shown itself in a dark complexion with long black hair, which she plaited into a long braid down her back, along with a bit of barbed wire to discourage the unfair fighters who would try to pull a girl's hair if they got a chance.

She turned her attention back to Lark, who was introducing the pair. "The lad is my student at the present time, Comas Draden. The other girl is new as well, Alida Falstaff. This is Sage. Why don't you two show her to her room?" Lark looked at Sage. "Yours will be upstairs as well, next to Alida's."

Sage nodded and picked up her trunk. Hard muscles from having to spend six hours per day training with a honking big sword came in handy in unexpected ways. She climbed the steps with quick, graceful movements.

At the top of the steps, the girl stepped forward first. Comas shrank back, looking at her warily. She ignored him and looked at Alida. "I guess we're going to be roomies then." She said, looking at the girl directly in the eye.

"I guess we will." Alida said, studying her intently. Sage held her gaze steadily. She was used to such treatment from older soldiers not in her company, they would calculate her, trying to figure out how a young girl like her gained a spot in one of the highest Companies in the Guild.

Comas broke the silence of the moment by clearing his throat awkwardly. "Er, I'm Comas, like Lark told you. I have the room on the bottom floor on the left." He coughed. "Alida, why don't you show her around." Then he eased pass them and fled downstairs.

xxx

Alida looked at the new girl. Sage turned toward her, her eyebrows raised.

"Don't mind him, he's just a little shy." Alida said.

"If you can get him in a room alone without him bolting, you can inform him that I won't bite his head off." Sage replied ironically.

Alida smiled. "I'll pass on the message. Your room's over here." She walked past Sage into the room across the hall from hers.

"Home sweet home." Sage said, and dropped her suitcase on the bed. "For the next week or so."

"What do you mean?" Alida asked, looking at her questioningly.

"Haven't you heard? I'm the 'street trash', the one that the Temple took in out of charity." Sage said, without any trace of ill-feeling. In fact, she sounded rather pleased about her reputation.

"Yeah, well I'm the girl who caused her dorm-mate to burst into tears and have a nervous breakdown. Get used to it." Alida said.

"Really? I must have missed the memo." Sage said with a wry grin.

That startled a laugh out of her. "Pity. What's your story then, oh Trash Off Our Pristine Emelan Streets?"

"It was a dark and stormy night. A wolf howled in the distance." Sage started, holding a lamp under her chin, casting shadows on her face. The evening light was fading rapidly, making Sage sound even more like a grim storyteller.

Lark's voice drifted up the stairs. "Alida? Sage? It's time for dinner." She called.

Alida looked back at Sage. "I'll head on down and tell her your unpacking."

Sage blinked. "Am I?"

"Yes, you are." Alida said, and propelled her across the room towards her suitcase. "I'll make sure Comas doesn't eat all the rolls before you get down." She said mischievously.

"You better, or I'll have to use my dangerous street fighting skills on you." Sage said jokingly.

Alida rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that'll be the day." She closed the door, breaking off any reply the girl might have. She leaned back on the door and let out a long breath. Glory, being able to banter and joke around was one of the things she missed most about life before. Life before she had been able to sense the emotions of those around, life before her parents had been killed in the Blue Pox, life before she had been shuffled around from home to home. Even her violin had changed it's meaning to her, whenever she played, well, things _happened_ to people around her…

She shook off her morbid thoughts and stepped down the stairs lightly. It didn't matter anymore. Comas said that he would talk to Lark after dinner about her magic. Maybe she could get him to admit his own magical talents, but that would be too much to hope for.

She frowned. Comas had taken to her pretty well considering the way he reacted to Sage. He had told her himself that he was shy, but the way he looked at Sage! You'd think she had just pulled a knife out at him, and proclaimed she was going to kill him. Alida had _looked _at her, in her magical sense, and could tell she had no ill feeling towards him. Maybe to the Temple in general, but not to Comas personally.

Alida shrugged, maybe she could get him to loosen up about it after he talked with Lark. She hurried downstairs, goaded on by the delicious scents wafting from the kitchen.

xxx

Eldred sat back in his bed, finishing up a drawing he was making of the fading sunset on a sheaf of parchment he had purloined. He found a pencil on the floor earlier that day, and since the girl that had been next to him had been moved to the dormitories, he had occupied his time by sketching. Painting would have been better, but it was impossible for him to obtain canvas, paints, and an easel in the Infirmary.

For him, drawing and painting were never something he did lightly. Something to do while bored, absolutely, but never lightly. For some reason creating a work had always been a thing of intense concentration, putting his feelings on canvas or paper. Capturing a moment in time forever or putting something from his imagination into a place where others could access it.

As he got older, it was harder and harder to do any serious work. There was more pressure on him to excel in the "manly arts" of hitting someone with a sharp piece of metal or knocking someone off a horse with a pointed stick. Not from his father, of course, his father would be supportive of him in almost any case. But his year-mates and instructors would make fun of him if he was caught doodling in the weapons foyer or sketching in the stands during a joust.

Rosemary bustled in, holding a tray with a bowl of steaming chicken broth. "Here you go dearie. Dinner is served." She said, maneuvering the tray around his work. He pulled up the paper closer to him and looked down at the meal. Chicken broth with some sort of vegetable floating around in it and a small bowl of applesauce. Invalid fare.

"When will I be well enough to go back to my family? I've been here for four days now." He asked her.

"You'll be moved to the boys dormitory after you finish your meal." Rosemary said firmly.

"What about my family? Who's going to help them if I can't go?" Eldred sat up straighter, ready to push Rosemary out of the way and run all the way to the fa Ashe Keep if necessary. She pushed him back onto his pillows.

"You're in no condition to go gallivanting off more than three hundred miles." Rosemary said firmly. "Duke Vedris is sending battalion of men to your Keep in the morning."

Eldred rapidly calculated in his head. "But that means I left nearly a week ago! And the Duke will take at least six days to get there! My family will be dead before they get there if I don't do something." He attempted to rise again, but Rosemary pushed him back again, a little more firmly.

"Your family will be fine. You won't be if you don't calm down and eat you meal." She said strongly. "Unless you would rather me find a mind healer to knock you out for a few days."

Eldred scowled and looked down at his dinner. He started eating his broth until Rosemary left to go attend other patients before slipping out of his bed. If he had to go all the way to the Duke himself to get work done, he would do it. His father's words still rang in his head. _Don't make their sacrifice worthless. _If he had to walk barefoot for the leagues in between here and the Keep, he would do so.

He left the Infirmary without anyone noticing. Suddenly, one of the Healers coming back from the Dining Hall recognized him and shouted. He turned back to see the dedicate running after him, along with at least four others. He turned back to the road and started sprinting. Stretching his legs out of being in bed for days, he shook off the muscle atrophy grimly.

He looked back to see a few more had joined the chase. Eldred was starting to feel a stitch in his side. He ran up the steps of a building and glanced back. A small mob of dedicates and novices were coming after him, closing the distance quickly.

Eldred looked around and saw a large oak tree standing in a few feet away from the path.

He didn't know what happened. Everything suddenly looked as if he was looking at it as a bystander, a stranger in his own body. He reached toward the tree with his right hand, imagining the world as a painting. _The tree would look better across the path. _He thought and moved his index and middle finger like a paintbrush.

Reality struck back at him with a huge blow. Exhaustion weighed down on him and he didn't know why. He was gasping for breath and clutching his side. He looked back at the path and nearly fainted. The tree had inexplicitly moved five feet to the right. Into the middle of the path. The leaders had run right into it, while the others were in shock, wondering what had happened.

Eldred couldn't explain what had just happened, nor did he want too. The important thing was that he had time. He fought back nausea and opened the door with an effort.

Leaning against the walls for support, he slid along them until he came to a door. Suddenly, he figured out why this was the largest building in the Temple. It was the heavily magical workshops for the mages and the rooms for the Heads of each aspect of the Temple; Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. He looked at the nameplate on the door. Apparently, it was also the office for the Head of Winding Circle, Honored Moonstream.

Surely she would have answers for him. He wanted to just burst in, but noble training held him firm. He raised his fist and knocked weakly. A voice said, "Enter."

He opened the door by leaning on the door handle and sliding off. Moonstream looked up in surprise. Whoever she was expecting, it wasn't him.

"Yes? You are?" She inquired.

Eldred sketched a bow. "Eldred fa Ashe."

"Ah, yes, the boy with the letter for Duke Vedris." She nodded and folded her hands on the desk. "How may I help you."

"I need to go with Duke Vedris tomorrow to help my family." He said, without preamble.

"Out of the question. I'm sorry, but you are far too young. Besides, you look even more exhausted now then you did when you got here." She said.

"I have to go! I'm the one my father sent to ride 350 miles to the capitol! I have a right to go!" He said, outraged. "I had to break out of the Infirmary to get here, and I'm not leaving without answers!" He knew he was being rude beyond belief, probably offending the worse possible person and sounding like a coddled brat denied a sweet at the same time, but he didn't care.

Moonstream looked at him, her fingers tented in front of her face. "I know you have some very strong feelings about this, but I'm afraid it's not possible." She stood up. "Did your father tell you what was in the letter?"

He looked at her suspiciously. "He said it was a call for aid."

"It was also a missive. You are to stay here until the Keep in safe again, learning all you can while here. That is your father's wish." She held up her hand. "No more will be said on this matter. That is the word, and that is final."

Eldred sat down heavily. He couldn't believe it. His father wanted him to stay here while his people were _dying _as he sat here, comfortable and safe?

Still in shock, he barely registered Moonstream gently guiding him outside her office and too the door.

He did notice when she stopped and whispered, "Mila preserve us." He looked up. There was still a milling group of people in the middle of the path, trying to figure out how a fifty-foot high tree suddenly moved five feet to the right.

"Sorry about that." He mumbled. The shear exhaustion of his discovery and running through the temple weighed down on him mentally and physically. He felt drained. Eldred started sliding down the side of the wall. He could see the blackness creeping in. He dimly heard Moonstream say something about Discipline when he blacked out.

xxx

Comas poked at his food, trying to prolong the dinner ordeal. He really didn't want to have to talk to Lark about his power, and he would have to eventually. If not just to explain how he found out about Alida's magic. Besides, who ever heard of a _weaver _mage seeing magic. That was the stuff for great mages, like Goldeye or something. Not ambient cloth mages who were practically scared of their own shadow.

Sage pushed away from the table with a clatter. "It's been a long day, and I'm off to bed." She said, standing up.

"You're excused." Lark said pointedly.

"Thank you, mother." She muttered, but he didn't think Lark heard her. She walked away from the table, and he could hear her pounding up the stairs. As soon as her door slammed, Alida coughed meaningfully and looked at him.

Comas gave a tiny shake of his head. Alida gave him a look that clearly said, _If you don't do it, I will! _He shook his head again and sighed.

"Something you'd like to say, Comas?" Lark asked with a smile.

He suddenly became very interested with a spot on the table. He couldn't do, it, just couldn't do it!

"Yes, we _both _have something to say." Alida said, stressing the word both.

"Oh?" Lark said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yes. You remember how I was sent here after my, um, accident?" She continued. "Well, it happened while I was playing my violin. Maybe _Comas_ would like to continue from here." Alida stressed the pronoun.

Comas sighed. It would come out sooner or later, better from him than someone else. "I can, um, see, er, magic." He said quietly, still staring at the spot on the table. "Alida has threads of power connecting her to her violin."

Lark gave a surprised noise. "Is that so? Any other things you would like to mention while we're on the subject?"

Comas glanced up at her. She didn't seem angry, only politely interested. "I can also, um, find strings of extra power and, um, weave it into things." He muttered. There, it was out.

"Interesting." Lark turned toward Alida. "Anything you would like to add?"

"I have always been an adept student of music. I used to play my violin outside my parents store to attract customers. They were instrument makers and music sellers. When I was eight, my parents died in the Blue Pox plague, and I started sensing other people's strong emotions. I could tell when someone was lying or angry or scared. That's why I ran away that time, I could tell my Uncle was in a rage and was looking to find some thing or one to take it out on. I also can't play my violin anymore without making something happen to a person in the immediate area. I think that I'm projecting my feelings onto them…somehow." Alida finished and leaned forward, seeing how Lark would react.

Lark merely sighed and rubbed her temples. "It doesn't surprise me. I thought you two, and even Sage, had a bit of magic about you. I just thought it might have been the after affects of the four or my imagination." She stood. "I'll talk to Moonstream about it in the morning. Try to get a good night's sleep until then."

Lark began to clear the table. Dismissed, Comas and Alida walked up the stairs towards her room.

"Well, that went as well as could be expected." Alida said with a small smile.

Comas shivered. "I don't know, I just kept expecting her to get mad at me for not telling her. I'm still a little worried about having to leave, but at least it's out in the open."

"What I'd miss." Sage said, poking her head out of her doorway.

"Nothing." Comas said quickly.

Sage rolled her eyes and looked at Alida. "Did you give him my message?"

"Not yet." She replied, and turned towards Comas. "Message from Sage: 'I won't bite your head off.'"

"Thanks. Good night all." Sage said, and whipped her head back into her room and shut her door firmly.

"Thanks, I think." Comas said.

"She's really nice. Give her a chance." Alida said and stepped into her room. "Good night."

" Night." He said. He walked down the steps slowly. It was hard, adjusting to getting yet another roommate when it had been just him and Lark for several months. But Alida was right, he needed to give her a chance. He sighed. Why did such a simple thing have to be so hard?

**Note: Sorry this chapter was so long, there was a lot of information I had to get out, especially about Eldred. Who do you think I need to expand on a little? Anyone you think I left out? Can you start to tell what Eldred and Sage's magic is? Tell me in a REVIEW!!!**

**Thank you lady knight keladry for submitting my second review (how lame is that? Four chapters and only two reviews? Come on people!) and adding my Circle Remade to her Story Alert, and to Echo Chambers for adding this story to her alert.**


	5. Magic

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Five: Magic

Sage slid down the stairway banister the next morning, ready to bite the head off of anyone who didn't decide to take immediate shelter at her dark expression.

Lark took one look at her and said, "Maybe you should take the morning off. You could wander around the grounds and acquaint yourself with the grounds."

"Bite me." She muttered.

Her dreams last night had been foreboding. She was running through the woods, where her Company had been working last winter. The cold was freezing her to the bone, making her muscles weaken and feel like lead. Her breath steamed in front of her, she struggled to keep up with her partner; a twenty-something year old man named Damian. He had always been nice to her, giving her pointers and making polite jibes at people who tried to cut Sage down for being a girl. They were making a quick reconnaissance of the area to report back to camp. Company 7 was working with a noble of medium rank, trying to put down rebelling farmers in the area. Damian and her had been making quick surveys of the land when a group of rebels attacked them. Sage had run, barely keeping up with Damian. Then the older soldier went down, an arrow in his back. She tried to help…

Sage shook off the dream with a growl. It was time to let go of the past and focus on the future, namely, finding the boy she had promised to say good-bye to and getting out of this place.

She took a slice of bread with a smidgeon of jam on it and stepped out the door into the late spring air. Chewing her breakfast thoughtfully, she wandered around the area. Dedicates going to their respective workplaces were meandering through the grounds. Dawn prayers had just ended, and the dedicates that bothered to go to them were getting set up while novices walked through the area sleepily, trying to get a jump on the day.

Presently, Sage found herself walking around to the North face of the temple. Here, there were an assortment of small workshops. Sage sniffed the air and could smell the cloying smell of clay. The earthy smell filled her senses, and she breathed deeply. The remaining fear she felt from her dream slowly drained out of her. She smiled, she always had liked campaigning in summer instead of winter. For some reason, she always felt slow and muddled, like she could sleep for a decade.

Trying not to look like she was interested, she peered in the doorway. A middle-aged dedicate in a mud-splattered green habit sat at the pottery wheel. It sounded like he was humming to himself. She studied him for a quick moment. He was tanned and tall, raven black hair was streaked with gray. Merry blue eyes concentrated on the piece in front of him.

Sage watched, fascinated, as the shapeless lump of clay took shape, changing in front of her eyes to a tall, delicate vase. She lost track of time as the dedicate slowly made minor adjustments, moving his hands, pumping the wheel pedal with a steady pace, losing herself in the thumping heartbeat of the wheel.

All too soon, the pace slowed, then stopped. The dedicate deftly took a string and sliced it along the bottom of the completed vase. He held it in his hands, examining it carefully from all angles. Apparently satisfied, he took a stick from a jar in the corner and made a mark on the bottom of the container.

Now he looked up at her. "Welcome to my humble workshop. How may I help you?" He said with a smile.

Sage was taken aback. "What, no 'get out my shop before I give you a flying lesson'?"

He snorted. "My apologies, I was under the impression I was in polite company."

"I try my best."

He grinned again. "The name's Peregrine. Pull up a chair."

"Sage." She sat down. "What is this place?"

"This is my workshop. I'm a potter. Can I get you some tea?"

Sage made a face. "Boiled grass? No thank you! Cider would be fine, if you have any."

"I'll see if I can spare any before I boil some grass, as you so eloquently put it."

He came back with a clay mug of cider. He handed it to her before leaning on a table facing her.

"So what brings you to my humble abode, Mistress Sage."

Sage made a face. "I'll leave if you go all flowery on me."

"Duly noted." Peregrine said cheerfully.

"I came here because Lark told me to get to know the grounds. I started wandering and found myself here. Simple as that." She said.

"Well, here you are. In the company in the one, and only, pottery mage in Winding Circle." He made a little bow.

Sage blinked at him. "Uh huh. So it's magic what you do with the clay?"

"I don't understand what you mean."

"That. That you just made." She pointed at the vase. "It was just a lump of dirt before you put it on the wheel, and now it's a vase."

"Oh that? No, anyone can do that! All the magic helps me to do is make good, sellable pieces in fewer tries, tell when the slip has been purified enough, how long to kiln a piece, that sort of thing."

"Can you teach me?" Sage didn't know what made her say that. It just sort of came out.

Peregrine raised his eyebrows. "You really want to learn?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Hmmmm…" He looked her up and down. "I suppose, if you really have your heart set on it, you can come back tomorrow at noon. Bring some clothes you won't mind getting dirty."

"I'll be there. Thanks for the cider!" She called and ran out the door.

xxx

Alida walked out the door nervously. A missive had come for her earlier that day from Moonstream. She was scared.

She didn't want to be thrown out again. Discipline Cottage was just now starting to feel like home, and besides that, she had no where else to go. Her uncle had been her closest living relative, and he had turned her over to Winding Circle. Her only possible way to make a living if thrown out was cut off from her. Unless she wanted people to have a nervous breakdown every time they heard her play, her violin was cut off from her.

_Maybe I can find an apprenticeship as a doormaker or something_. She thought, depressed at the thought. _I guess I could learn to __make__ instruments, but it would be hard. To be so close to what she wanted so much, but forbidden to play a note. _

Alida entered the building with Moonstream's office, braced and ready to be booted from her home. She knocked tentatively.

"Enter." A voice came from inside the room.

She opened the door and poked her head in. "You wanted to see me?"

"Ah yes, Alida Falstaff. Please, sit down." A seated Moonstream indicated a chair on the opposite side of her desk.

Alida sat down on the edge of the seat, hands crossed and in her lap. She wanted to chew her nails, as she did when she was little, but stopped herself. She had stopped biting her nails in the first place because it messed with the tips of her fingers that she needed to play her violin with.

"Why are you so tense? I'm not going to throw you out, child!"

Alida looked up. Moonstream looked down at her, blue eyes kind. She hadn't noticed before, but Moonstream must have been almost fifty. The thin lines on her face made her seem more, not less, able and wise. This was a person who had weathered the hardest years, had stood fast when strife had come and gone, and would see that her Temple remained eternal.

"I asked you to come here because we needed to have a little chat. Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you." Alida whispered. She was still on edge, even though it seemed she would not be thrown out.

Moonstream poured herself a mug and took a small sip, watching Alida over the rim of her mug. "I wanted to discuss with you what happened a few days ago."

"I'm so sorry, it won't happen again, I promise! I won't play my violin anymore, I'll stay at Discipline, I'll-" Alida blurted out. Moonstream stopped her with a raised palm.

"Good heavens no! If this is where your power lies, you must follow it! Dear child, even if you tried, I'm sure you won't be able to keep away from your precious violin. Not that we would want you too." Moonstream leaned in closer. "You are an ambient mage, as opposed to an academic mage. An academic mage is the type that trains at Lightsbridge, they have absolute control over their magic and are the commonest form of mages. It's rather sad actually."

Moonstream sighed. "So many children are told about the academic mages and how they can tell where the magic comes out; seeing pictures in fires, moving things by thinking, et cetera. The ones that are often over looked are often the most powerful. Children who show ambient magic; the magic that comes from outside the person, usually from a craft, are often labeled as strange or outcasts. Those are the lucky ones. Others, such as yourself, or Trisana Chandler, as I recall, are thought to be dangerous and are subsequently shuffled around. Others still are rejected or told they are crazy, until very soon they believe it themselves."

"So, you're saying I'm an ambient mage." Alida said slowly.

"Precisely. An ambient musician-mage. I have been looking through the record and can find very few of them mentioned. But you are not the first, and definitely not the last. Sandriline fa Toren herself has informed me that she has found a student dance-mage on the coast, in a family of harriers. Magic will choose odd people to become apparent in, but everything is for a purpose. Which brings me to my next point."

Moonstream stood up. "It is usual for a young, untrained mage to be taught by the mage who discovers him or her, if one of the same craft cannot be found. Unfortunately, there are no music-mages, that appears to be young Comas, he would have to be your teacher."

"Comas?" Alida said incredulously. "But he just now discovered most of his power, let alone gotten a mage-license."

"I said would. I cannot ask poor Comas to have to take on teaching you, along with learning his own magic. That is why I have chosen an adequate teacher for you."

"Who?"

"Me."

Alida looked at her with shock. "You? But your head of the Temple, why would you-"

"Because I feel I am most able. Before I became Head, I was a Healer in Water Temple. My expertise was in mind healing. From what Lark has told me of your powers, you seem to affect emotions, both by projecting and by feeling it in others. One of the first things I had to learn as a Healer was how to set up walls against my own emotions. The last thing you want in a Healing is for a patient who is already in pain to feel pity or fear from the Healer. I also had to learn to sort through the emotions of those around me for the pertinent ones. Otherwise, especially in the Infirmary, you can feel some very unpleasant feelings that will leave yourself hurt and not help anyone one whit."

"However, I cannot play any instruments with anything close to talent. For that, I will send you to a tutor in the city. _After _you have learned to master your feelings and set up shields against outside emotions."

Alida sat back in her chair, all the words swirling around in her head. But one point came up to the forefront of her mind.

"So I can stay?" She said, relief coloring her voice.

"I thought I made that apparent." Moonstream smiled. "You can relax, now."

Alida let out a breath, slightly amazed at how tense she really had been.

"Come back tomorrow at noon. You can get your chores done before then, can't you?"

"Of course!" Alida stood up. "Oh, thank you so much! I'll be the best student ever, I promise!"

Moonstream gave he a small smile. "I have no doubt that you will be so, no doubt at all. You are a rare one, Alida, and I'm sure you will not cease to amaze us all. Now, I'm sure you were too nervous to eat much for breakfast. I've already told Lark about this, so you won't have to worry about that. Go ahead and go to Gorse for a bit of breakfast, the kitchens are just around the corner here." Moonstream pointed.

"I will. Thank you so much!" Alida stood up and opened the door.

"You can thank me later." Moonstream said wryly. "I think I smell scones, so you would do well to get a few before they pull a disappearing act as they do so often."

xxx

Eldred woke up in an unfamiliar bed with a pounding headache. "Never again." He muttered, rubbing his head. He sat up, wincing as another surge of hurt hit his brain. With a supreme spurt of will power, he pushed himself out of bed, leaning heavily on the wall.

Limping out of his door, he found himself on the bottom landing of a two-story cottage. Another room was right across the hall from his, next to that was a workshop of sorts. Inside he could see a loom and several baskets of yarn and thread. He winced again as his head reminded him of why he had gotten up.

_Must…find...willowbark…tea. _He thought slowly. It hurt to think. Or move. For Mila's sake, it hurt to _blink._ He stumbled into what he thought was a kitchen. It sure looked like one. He didn't care, as long as it had something to stop this migraine. He sat down heavily at the table. He put his head onto his crossed arms on the table and closed his eyes.

"Morning Lark!" _Owwwwwww!!!_ Eldred thought. _Please shut up, please shut up…_

"Good morning, Comas. I'm making eggs, Sage is off exploring the grounds and Alida is visiting Moonstream." Eldred groaned. _Mila, why have you forsaken me!_

He could hear the footsteps abruptly stop. "Who's that?" He heard a boy ask uncertainly.

"Our newest resident, Eldred fa Ashe. Brought here just last night, out cold."

"Well I'm not now, so please stop talking over me." He said, muffled by his arms. "Do you have anything for a head that feels about to implode? 'Cause I could really go for something like that right about now."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll make some willowbark tea for you." The annoyingly cheerful woman's voice moved off. A chair scraped the floor and the boy sat down.

"So, why are you here?" The boy asked him.

"Not one to mince words, are you." Eldred looked up from his arms, biting back a hiss of pain as he was half-blinded by the bright light pouring in from the kitchen window. "I rode here from the fa Ashe keep, roughly 400 miles from here. Spent some time in the infirmary, escaped, tried to get into the battalion being sent to help my imperiled family, got put in my place by Moonstream, and, uh, oh yeah, somehow moved an oak tree five feet to the right. Yeah, I think that's about it." He moaned and put his head back on his arms.

"Gee, is that all." The boy said good-naturedly.

"I'm glaring at you right now." He said from his arms.

"Anyway, Lark was telling me about that earlier. The Duke stripped most of his personal guard and a couple of the harrier coops."

"I'm Comas, by the way. I'm too shy to be in the normal dorms." Comas said unashamedly. He had been thinking about what Alida had said last night, and had resolved to be more friendly to new-comers. Even if Eldred didn't know that.

"Wait." Eldred looked up. "If this isn't the normal dorms, then where am I?"

"You're in Discipline Cottage, probably to learn it. Discipline, I mean. If you moved a tree five feet to the right without meaning too, you're in the right place."

"Tea's ready!" The woman came back, holding a mug of the steaming liquid. "I'm Lark, by the way. I'll be here looking after you. There are two others living here besides you and Comas; Alida Falstaff and Sage. They're out right now, but you'll meet them later."

He heard all of this dimly as he gulped down the mug of tea. Almost instantly, he could feel the pain lesson, the throbbing stopped, and the light didn't feel so blinding anymore.

"Much better, thank you." He said gratefully.

"No problem." She turned to Comas. "Now that all the rooms are full, I'm going to put up a chore chart. We're going to need more food, so I need you to go down to the kitchen and ask Gorse for some more food. We'll need more for lunch today."

"I could do it." Eldred offered. He was feeling much better, if a little…drained.

"Are you sure? You had a rough night…"

"I feel great, I can do it. I might as well start pulling my own weight." He said, standing up.

"Well, I did need to work with Comas some more," Lark mused. "Alright then. Here's a basket and a list of what I need. Just follow the smoke, you won't be able to miss it."

Eldred nodded and grabbed the basket. He was walking toward the kitchens when he heard shouting. He turned to see a hapless novice tripping over his robes as he scrambled away from a workshop doorway. He couldn't hear what the novice was saying but he could hear a woman shrieking at him.

"GET OUT YOU CLUMSY OAF!! IF YOU TAKE SO MUCH AS ONE STEP BACK HERE, SO HELP ME I WILL TURN YOU PURPLE FROM YOUR EARS TO YOUR TOES!! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!!!!"

The novice ran past him in his hurry to get away from the mad woman. Eldred grabbed his arm. "What was that?"

The novice turned Eldred between him and the house, like a shield. "That was Dedicate Gingerflower. I over turned one of her paint jars while dropping off some new brushes. Run while you still can!" He let go of Eldred and followed his own advice, throwing glances over his shoulder.

Eldred looked over toward the workshop. "There's another artist here?" He said. He looked toward the departing novice and the kitchens.

"It can't hurt to look…" He said, setting off toward the workshop. He glanced in the doorway and immediately ducked. An artists palate sailed over his head and landed with a splat in a puddle.

"I thought I told you to never come back!" A woman in a paint-spotted red habit came stood up from her place at an easel. "And who are you, then!" She snapped, seeing he wasn't the novice.

"Um, Eldred?" He said hesitantly. "I'm over at Discipline, and I heard-"

"Ah yes, the new boy. Well, I suppose you decided to come and find out all about the feared Gingerflower. You're looking at her, so get out before you find a paintbrush up your nose. Guess where the next one's going after that."

He gulped. "I just wanted to meet the artist, but if you want me to leave…"

"Ah, so you want to learn is it? You think you have what it takes to be an artist?" She walked right up to him, glaring down at him from behind brown bangs. "Paint."

"What?"

"Paint! Are you deaf as well as stupid?" She pushed a palate at him, along with a brush.

"But I-"

"But I, but I." She said, imitating him. "No buts! If you want to paint, paint!"

He grabbed the brush and looked at it. He walked up hesitantly to the canvas. He looked over his shoulder at her. She beckoned with her hand.

He sighed and put his brush into the black paint. The colors were a little thinner than he would have usually chosen, but if she wanted him to paint, he would paint!

He was just getting started when a hand grabbed his wrist.

"That is enough. You come back tomorrow at noon. Bring some paper and a pencil."

xxx

Comas watched Eldred leave and turned toward Lark. "Um, I'm sorry about not telling you earlier." He mumbled.

She sat down with a sigh. "I know why you did it. I just wish you had trusted me with it sooner. I would have moved you to more complicated stuff sooner and warded your workspace better."

"Sorry."

"No need to apologize. We just need to get to work. For one thing, I need to watch you work. I also need to start you on spinning your own thread. I've put you on weaving for too long, if you really can see and spin magic."

"It's not spinning. I just can see threads of magic and I weave them into existing work. I can also attach a thread to someone and can sense where they are and sometimes how they're feeling."

"Oh?" Lark raised her eyebrows. "You failed to mention that earlier."

"I forgot." Comas said, blushing scarlet.

"Might as well remember now than later. Let's go into the work shop and work on some spinning, then."

Comas nodded and followed Lark into the room next door.

**Note: Sorry for cutting Comas' section short. I thought you guys had read enough for one chapter, and I couldn't really come up with anything for Comas to do, since he already had a teacher and such. Thank you dkreader and deirdre puchala for submitting reviews. With so few reviews, every bit counts. As for the rest of you…CLICK THE STUPID BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM AND REVIEW!! Thank you, carry on.**


	6. Learning

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Six: Learning

Sage slid out of doing her chores after lunch by pleading a headache. Once back in her room, she opened her window and climbed down the trellis on the side of the house.

"Why didn't I do this before?" She said with a grin. She turned and walked down the path, eating an apple she had snagged from the lunch table. From the position of the sun, it was nearly noon, and time for her lesson. The one requirement of wearing clothes she could get dirty in wasn't a problem; she hadn't gotten any new clothes from the Temple when she moved to Discipline. For all she cared, the second-hand pity clothes could be shredded and served to the pigs for their Midsummer Feast. Or for a much more satisfying end, cut to bits and strewn all over the room for her to roll around in.

Imagining wonderful ways to wreck her clothes was an interesting way to pass the time on the way to Dedicate Peregrine's workshop. She almost didn't notice Alida and Eldred running to catch up with her until they shouted her name.

"SAGE!! WAIT UP!" She turned in surprise. Alida and Eldred were sprinting toward her. She stopped and waited for the pair to catch up.

"Hey Ali, Red, what're you doing?"

The small group started walking again. "We have lessons," Alida said. "And what's with the nicknames?"

"If a name can be shortened, it should be shortened." Sage said cheerfully.

"Hmmm, Red," Eldred mused. "Short, simple, to the point, I like it!"

"Yeah." Alida rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I have lessons with Honored Moonstream. See you at dinner." She took the right fork of the path they were currently on and ran up to the large, central building.

Eldred and Sage continued walking. "So where is your lesson?" She asked.

"Right off the side of the kitchens. Dedicate Gingerflower is teaching me artistry." He held up a sheaf of papers and a pencil, thoroughly chewed on.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are we talking about the same Gingerflower? I overhear stuff, and that Dedicate has more than half the Temple on her Banned list. Plus, I think she's turned at _least _six novices various shades of purple in the last moonturn."

"Yes, that Gingerflower," He said calmly. "I have to learn painting and drawing from someone, and she seems to be that person."

Sage stopped and put an arm on his shoulder, looking serious. "You are a brave, brave man."

Eldred slipped under her grip and stepped backwards. They were already at the kitchens, and it was time for his lessons. "I'll paint you a sign that says, 'I told you so' so you won't have to work your mouth so hard."

"Right." Sage continued up the path a little, then turned and shouted, "DEAD MAN WALKING!"

Eldred turned to say something back at her, but she was already sprinting away, laughing maniacally.

Sage was still laughing a little when she got to Dedicate Peregrine's kiln and workshop. She spent a brief moment composing herself, then knocked on the door politely. Without waiting for an answer, she opened it.

Peregrine was bent over a pot, doing some intricate carving on the side of the rim. He glanced up and grinned. "Ah, right on time. Are you ready to get dirty?"

"Sure why not." Sage sat down cross-legged on a chair. "What will I be doing first?"

Peregrine stood up and stretched his legs for a moment. He rubbed his hands while he spoke to her. "All students, whether mage or not, start by making simple things."

"What?" Sage said uncertainly.

"Smith mages start out with nails, you start out with-" he paused and picked up a large chunk of clay, plopping it on the table in front of her. "-beads."

"Beads?" Sage said incredulously.

"Beads. They are the simplest thing, and are a teacher for later. You must take a piece of clay about this size-" He demonstrated. "Roll it into a ball on the palms of your hand, then take a one of these slivers of wood and poke it through the center to create the hole."

He put the completed bead down. "Those are the easiest, plain spherical beads. Later, maybe even today, I'll show you how to make different shapes of beads. Put all completed beads on to this sheet so we can kiln them later."

Peregrine watched Sage make four beads alone; then left her to her own devices. Which, anyone in her old Company could have told him, was a bad idea.

She looked at the large red-brown chunk of clay with interest. Beads were all very nice; she looked at the four she had just made. But they were _boring._ Peregrine was taking another pot over to be kilned, why couldn't she do something a little fun?

She dismissed the wheel out of hand. No way was she going to be able to figure out how to throw a pot before he got back. Which left the other technique; molding.

Making sure Peregrine wasn't anywhere in sight, she grabbed as much as she could hold in her two cupped hands, and rolled it into a ball. _Where to start…_ she thought.

It didn't matter, because her hands were already moving. First, she flattened out the entire sphere a little. One end she shaped off a little, on the other she rubbed it between her fingers until it was long and skinny. She carefully pulled out four little legs on the body, giving each one three toes. Then she realized what she was making. _It's a gecko! _She thought, amazed.

The plain body stood on her desk. "Hmmmm…" _What to do next. _She picked up the thin stick she had seen Peregrine use to make designs on his pots and added a mouth. She took two small pieces of clay and rolled them into little balls, then stuck them on either side of the head for eyes. She carefully added eyelids to the bulging eyes and two little nostrils on the front of the head, just above the mouth.

_Gecko's have ear holes, don't they? _She thought. Just to be safe, she added two small holes on either side of the head. To finish off the piece, she drew a zig-zag line down it's back with a flourish.

She turned and saw Peregrine coming in and shoved the little sculpture under the table. She put it on her lab and picked up some more clay and proceeded to make as many beads as she could. Sage bent busily over her work so he wouldn't notice that she hadn't made a single one while he was gone.

"Very nice, Sage! Maybe I will get to show you different styles of beads this afternoon."

"I can't wait." She muttered under her breath.

She had a hard time concentrating. The gecko on her lap kept moving. She didn't know why, her legs were rock-steady. _Maybe the floor is tilted_. She thought. Whatever it was, her sculpture was slowly and surely sliding down her legs. Thinking of what her little gecko would look like splattered on the floor, she grabbed it. Making sure Peregrine had his back turned again. She pulled up the figurine and looked at it. _Did I really make those legs splayed out like that? _She wondered. Then it blinked.

"Ahhh!" She yelped and leaned back, dropping the lizard on the table. Her chair fell over with a crash.

"What it- whoa." Peregrine stopped as he saw the little _moving _sculpture. The gecko was running around on the table, busily looking at all her completed beads and rolling a few around. He looked down at her. "What happened?"

"Well..uh…" Sage couldn't come up with a good story. "I was…um…just uh…you know -"

Peregrine was looking at her with raised eyebrows. Sage sighed. "Back to beads, right?"

xxx

After Alida left Eldred and Sage on the path, she walked on for a little longer. Now that she wasn't terrified about being thrown out, she actually was able to notice the scenery and enjoy it a bit.

"Whoa." She paused. Right in the middle of the path was a fifty-foot tall oak tree. "Eldred moved that thing?" She whispered and turned back to see him talking to Sage about something. She walked up to the tree and put her hand on the trunk, feeling the rough bark. It was solid; it could have grown there for years and never moved a centimeter.

"Least I know I'm not the only crazy one." She muttered. She left the tree a little reluctantly and entered the building. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light. Compared to outside, the interior was badly lit.

After a few second, she moved along the hallway, retracing her steps from yesterday. She came to the door and knocked.

"Come in."

She opened the door slowly and looked around. The room had changed drastically, Moonstream had pushed the desk to the side and cleared the center of the room entirely. A circle was chalked on the ground. Moonstream was sitting on the floor cross-legged in the center of the circle.

"Ah, there you are. I was beginning to wonder when you would arrive." Moonstream stood up. She ducked her head and carefully rubbed out a section of the circle. "Come in, come in. I need to re-seal this soon before the power completely drains out."

Alida cautiously walked into the circle, carefully stepping over the lines. "What is this?"

"It's a meditation circle. I've warded it so no magic can escape or affect something ina way that, in a word, would be _bad_." Moonstream re-drew the section she had rubbed out. "It also will keep out anyone who comes in while we're working. Reach out your hand."

Alida did so. Her hand immediately hit something solid and a low echo rang out. She moved her hand across the wall, feeling it curve until it moved beyond her reach. The dome, she supposed, was just as tall as Moonstream herself.

"Nothing can get in or out until I remove the lines of the ward." Moonstream settled down comfortably across from Alida. "Sit down."

Alida sat down in half-lotus position. "What are we going to do?"

"Usually, we would meditate. That's usually what these wards are for. However, Lark is going to teach all of you to meditate together. Although I believe Comas already grasps the basics, with this discovery of his new magic, he will need to get more than a grasp. Before you join the others in the meditation circle, I need to teach you how to create walls in your mind."

"Shouldn't I learn how to meditate first? That's what it says all mages learn how to do first in the books I've read." Alida said, then blushed. She was the student here, and shouldn't contradict the teacher. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Asked a legitimate question. It's alright, how am I supposed to teach you if I don't know if you don't understand something." Moonstream said with a warm smile. "You are correct, that is the way usual mages learn. You are not a usual mage, however. In meditation, you open up your mind to your surroundings, slowly clearing your mind until all that's left is focus. For most mages, that focus is then turned to their inner power center and then sent out to do what they bid. But for you, your magic is just as much around you than inside. Your violin acts as a conduit for your projected empathic powers. You draw on emotions of those around you. To open yourself up in a meditation circle with other powerful, untrained mages without first learning shielding would be a dangerous risk at best and a complete disaster at worst."

"So I am dangerous?" Alida asked, a more than a little scared.

"Not unless you want to be. Trust me, if you didn't already have some measure of self-control, you'd have been taken to the Wards long ago. Especially during the Blue Pox, when you're powers first started to emerge. Your will to survive and keep your mind is extraordinary, and your greatest asset. I need you to remember that whenever you start to feel any doubts about yourself and your sanity."

"That being said, it isn't considered good form to take unnecessary risks. Before you open yourself in meditation, I want to teach you shields. I'm going to teach you three different types of shields; the ones that block off all powers, the ones that will let a measured amount trickle in, and the ones that will let you expose your entire self to one person in particular. There are different uses for each, whish I will discuss with you as I teach you each one. Now close your eyes."

Alida closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Moonstream's voice became low and rhythmic. "Breath slowly and steadily. Once you learn meditation-style breathing, you will be able to use that, but for now just keep breathing. As you get better, you will be able to create mind barriers without having to breath properly at all, by just closing your eyes and concentrating."

"The first type of wall I'm going to teach you is the easiest. This one will block off all your contact, leaving only yourself. This is the one you will use during meditation. Think of a brick wall surrounding yourself. Create a wall, brick by brick, sealing yourself away from the world. Make sure the walls are firm. If someone truly wants to break into your mind, you must be able to stop them."

Alida pictured the wall. She could see herself building the wall brick by brick, stacking up a barrier against the world. She was half-aware of her sense of Moonstream falling away. Suddenly, she was alone in her mind. For once in far too long, she could _breathe._

"The next barrier is different. This one is more like a sieve than a complete wall. It will allow emotions to flow in at a steady rate, letting you pick and choose which ones to follow or investigate. You can make the screen holes as large or as small as you want. If you are in a crowd, you can choose to narrow the filter to only allow those feelings in the immediate area. If you are in a sparsely populated area, you can expand your mind to take in the emotions from anywhere within your range. We will determine your range another day, however. With more control, you may be able to widen the gaps in some places and narrow it in others. For now, just concentrate on creating the sieve. Now that you have a brick wall, knock down some of the bricks, allow the light to shine through. Open up the holes. Gradually change the brick wall into one of glass. You can look through the glass and see the emotions and vary the holes of there."

Alida furrowed her brow. This was harder than simply creating a wall. Changing what was already there was difficult. She gritted her teeth and forced her will onto the wall, tearing down holes in her barrier. She _willed _the bricks to become glass. Then, it was done. She could feel the faint glows of those beyond the walls, and the emotions of Moonstream remained behind a solid shield.

"That is enough for now. I don't want you to over tax yourself and get a headache. Carefully fill in the gaps and let the bricks advance and create the first wall."

Alida did so with relief. It was so nice to have nothing but her own thoughts inside her mind. She slowly opened her eyes. The light from the window had moved a good two feet across the floor since she got there. Moonstream, too, was opening her eyes and stretching.

"Very good! You did better than I expected for the first time. I want you to keep those shields up until I can teach you more control. We will get to the final shielding farther on in your training.

Alida got to her feet shakily, then banged her head on the wards. She rubbed her head ruefully.

"Right." Moonstream rubbed out a section of the circle. "Same time tomorrow. Keep the brick wall in place during meditation. Don't do to much experimentation, go too far before your ready and you'll end up with a nasty headache for your troubles."

Xxx

"Paint what you see." Gingerflower ordered him.

"What?" Eldred was in his first lesson, and already he had been called an idiot, thick, stupid, dense, and blind.

"Why am I always cursed with the dimwits!?" Gingerflower shouted at the sky. She looked at him. "Paint what you see, for Light's sake! Look and paint! Every brush stroke you make, every line you create, and all is in the world around you. You must see, breathe, listen, feel, observe, even, yes, _taste _the world around you. Your job as an artist is to create an emotion! How can you do that if you do not feel in the first place, or experience the living painting of our world!"

Gingerflower was slowly circling him as she ranted. The pair was on a hillside, overlooking the entire Temple. Eldred was sitting down on a collapsible chair, in front of a blank easel, trying to weather the sharp, biting words of his teacher.

"Every pigment, every color, every style of creation is a feeling! That is the job of the artist, to create! You create a feeling in a person, remind them of who they are and their humanness. Wars have been both started and ended because of an artist. We are one of the few ambient mage types with that ability. A weather mage can take out entire nations, a green mage can destroy rock that has been standing for centuries, and a stitch witch can unravel the seams of armies; all with a bang an sufficient power."

"An artist is subtle, but no less deadly. The famed artist mages of the past were used as spies, creating works and sending them to generals, each conveying a message with symbolism. Dydakore the Wise was able to link paintings together and send one half to the enemy, keeping the sister painting. With it, she was able to listen in on the meetings and save countless lives and halt the invasion. That is an artist's true power, to blend in and change the world with small increments. No one suspects an artist; we tend to appear aloof from the petty troubles of the world. That is a fool's assumption, and you must learn to use it."

"Your first task is to study the landscape. Let no detail seem too small, look at each piece in it's own way. Taste the fullness of life in the air, notice how the light shines through the leaves, perceive how each blade of grass is turned into a living emerald in the noon day sun. I will return in twenty minutes for what you have. You have the paints in front of you and your brush."

As abruptly as the lecture had started, Gingerflower turned and moved off towards her own easel a few meters away. Eldred breathed in deeply. The lesson so far had been less about _how _to paint and more about _why _to paint. To create an emotion, a feeling, a sensation. The passion of the artist put into the canvas, changed into what the intent of the painter.

Eldred sighed and picked up his brush. Painting was his favorite medium, but a demanding Gingerflower had made the usual enjoyable act of painting into an almost impossible task.

_Well, I'm not going to let her say I didn't try._ He thought grimly. He put the brush into the yellow and started to paint.

He started with a feeling, like Gingerflower had told her earlier. He turned his head and looked at the world. _What do I feel?_ He thought. He stared at the stand of sycamore trees in front of him. The earth was bathed in a golden glow from the sun almost directly overhead. A pair of squirrels chased each other through the trees, the wind gently tossed the boughs, the leaves cavorting in the shear glory of life.

_Life._ He thought. _The gift of being alive. _He let the emotion fill him, letting it flow down his fingers into the brush. He painted. He was lost in the moment, letting the world move through him, taking control of his movements, creating.

He wasn't aware of Gingerflower watching him thoughout it all. He didn't take notice when the brush began rubbing a blister in between his fingers. He did notice when the black paint mixed with the yellow.

Coming out of his state was like a harsh tug back to reality. He looked down at his palate in disgust. Most of the colors had mixed, creating a murky brown in the center of the disk. He hadn't noticed until the lack had run into his yellow, darkening it into a burnt goldenrod color.

He heard slow, deliberate clapping coming from behind him. He turned, ready to share some biting words with whoever it was, but reigned in his tongue when he saw it was Gingerflower.

"Very nice. I haven't seen a person so lost in his work since Gorse stopped making cream puffs five years ago. We need to work on your control, unless you want to start buying your own paints, but not bad for a first time."

Eldred turned and actually looked at his painting for the first time and almost choked. It was the twin of the world in front of him. He looked around the easel, surprised to see that the sun had eased over top of him and was now distinctly in the west.

"I thought I was only supposed to paint for twenty minutes?" Eldred asked.

"That's how long it usually takes my apprentices to give up and leave. I let you have the run until you came out of it yourself."

She walked up to the painting and lifted it off the easel. "A few splotches here and there, but at the speed you were painting I'm surprised there isn't more." She lowered the painting and looked at him. "Consider this your official entry into an apprenticeship. You will come to my workshop every day unless I tell you otherwise at 1 o'clock, after your chores. Later we will change the time so you can practice painting in different lights, but until then we will be mostly practicing indoors. You will be in charge of cleaning my brushes, buying canvases with our given money, putting them onto frames, mopping the floors, and, well, pretty much anything else that I can come up with."

Eldred listened to this with a sinking heart. "When will I sleep?" he asked, half-serious.

"When I tell you too." Gingerflower let out a laugh that could only be described as a cackle. "Oh, I had forgotten how much fun an apprentice is!"

xxx

Comas sat in the living room area in Discipline, staring at the door. Alida, Eldred, and Sage had all left for lessons at noon while he stayed behind with Lark. His lessons had mostly consisted of weaving, weaving, and more weaving. He had tried his hand at making thread, but it had all bunched up in a giant know after about a foot. Lark had told him it was alright since his expertise was weaving, but it still smarted. She had patiently cut off the satisfactory thread and let him keep it. He had it curled up in a pouch on his belt for good luck.

He sighed. At least he was going to be ahead of the others in one area; meditation. Lark had taught it too him ages ago, and he was already very good at it. He was able to remain in a meditative state and open his "eyes". He watching Lark with his spell-sight was very instructive, in and out of meditation. He pulled all his magic into himself, copying Lark, and held it there.

Sage came back first, looking a little preoccupied. She was holding a sculpture of a lizard.

"You made that on your first day." He asked. She looked up, startled.

"What, this." She looked down at the lizard. That's when Comas noticed it was _breathing_.

"What did you _do?"_ He asked, staring at it.

"Shhh, he's sleeping." Sage said quietly. Comas gave her a look. "I don't know what I did, I was just making a sculpture instead of beads when it happened. Peregrine doesn't know either, he just told me to take care of it and keep an eye on him. I've named him Steve."

"Steve?"

"It's a pretty name." She said defensively.

"Uh huh. And this fits into you learning control…how?"

"I don't know, it just happened." She groaned and plopped down on an open chair. The lizard gave a low growl and turned over in her hands. "I have learned that it eats the pottery paint and glass beads, but that's about it."

Then Eldred came in, looking slightly dazed.

"What's your problem?" Comas asked him.

"I just learned that I'm supposed to live, breathe, and probably _die _for art, according to Gingerflower." Walked over to the arm of the couch and fell long ways across it with a groan.

"Did you make me that 'I told you so' sign yet? Because I think this is one of those times." Sage said smugly.

"Shut up, gecko girl." He said. Sage opened her mouth to respond, then closed it with a scowl.

"Does everyone know about that?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

Alida came in, the only one out of the four who looked had a remotely happy expression on. "Afternoon!" She then noticed the others.

"Why are you so miserable?" She asked, looking puzzled.

"You're the one with the empathy, you tell me." Comas said.

"Can't, I learned how to put up shields today!" She said happily.

"That makes one of us." Eldred muttered.

Lark came in with her warding string. "Alright everyone, time for meditation."

The remainder of the afternoon was spent learning how to breathe properly and control their gift. Comas looked on with his spell-sight and was mildly surprised to see how bright the others' Gifts were. They almost out shone Lark with the brightness. Alida's was very controlled, Sage's burst out of her erratically, while Eldred's seemed to just cover everyone and everything inside the room with a glow.

"Count to seven, breathing in. Then hold it for seven seconds. Breathe out, counting again." Lark's voice coached the others while Comas was able to let his mind wander.

He was shocked to find he was counting with Lark mentally, just like a novice. His awareness leapt from himself and spread itself into the sky, weaving around from thread to thread of magic. He was brought back to Earth by a Sage roughly shaking him.

"Thank you, I was about to go for a bucket of water next." She said, sounding pleased at the prospect.

"I'm up, I'm up." He said hurriedly, getting to his feet. The others were all stretching out the kinks from meditation and slowly working the feeling back into sleeping muscles.

Lark was in the kitchen, preparing a meal. "It's going to be light sandwiches for tonight, I'm afraid. You all look exhausted, and there's bad news from the kitchens."

Comas sat down at the table and looked towards Lark. "What happened? Did one of the ovens explode again?" He was remembering the time a few months ago when a novice had forgotten to turn off the oven overnight. The explosion had been heard from as far as the Duke's castle.

"Worse, I'm afraid. The Lightsbridge mages who usually cast the preservation spells have been weakening and getting sick. It hasn't spread outside of the University, but Winding Circle is still being cautious."

"You don't think it's another pox, do you?" Alida asked worriedly.

"No. It's only been affecting the academic mages." Lark frowned. "I've heard that sometimes a mage may get sick when his or her magic weakens. But there's nothing that can neutralize magic…" Lark looked worried.

"I need to talk to Moonstream about this. If there is something draining the power of the academic mages, Winding Circle needs to send help."

Eldred finished a glass of milk. "Whatever it is, I'd bet my last copper it isn't an accident. Or natural, for that matter."

Lark shook her head and forced a smile. "But never mind that. It isn't your concern; let's hear how your day went. Alida, you first."

**Note: Sorry for the few days between updates, I've been busy. I'd like to give a billion super-extra-happy brownie points to lady knight keladry and Jellicle-in-the-box for submitting ANOTHER review each! You both rock!! Thank you also** **thr () for submitting a review, I;ve never been happier to be threatened with maiming. Mithrilsword Magechild, thankies for adding Circle Remade to your story alert list. As for the rest of you…THE COOKIES OF DARKNESS COMPEL YOU TO REVIEW!!!**


	7. Connections

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Seven: Connections

_The earth shook, the tremors following an invisible line to her. The infernal pounding filled her head, shaking her very being, making her wince in pain. She cried out and plunged herself deeper into the earth, trying to escape. She found a vein of clay and followed it to escape from the shudders, but found herself being pulled to their source. She struggled and cried out, clawing at something, anything, desperately trying to escape. She was pulled back like a slingshot, shooting down the line and coming up…_

_Onto a plain. Troops stretched as far as the eye could see, making a rippling ocean of bodies. Marching, marching. Her "eyes" widened. Her mercenary training kicked in, she estimated around five thousand troops, more over the hillside. Scores of shock troops in the front were lightly armed, archers in the back, and a horde of battle-trained warriors in the middle-_

Sage was sat up in her bed with a gasp. A cold sweat covered her body, soaking her sheets. She had to shove her fist in her mouth to keep from crying out, and she was still shaking. The feeling of impending doom had been closing in around her since she fell asleep, smothering her with the inky blackness of despair. She was trying to dismiss it as a nightmare, but instinct warned her it was _real. _

Sounds like a storyteller's tale. She thought. The hero, getting ominous dreams, the valiant quest to fight against impossible odds. She gave a shaky laugh. It was so cliché. But it did little to bolster her spirits. She got out of bed and put her head in her hands, trying not to sob. 

She picked up her weapons belt from under her bed and grabbed her jacket. She opened the door quietly and stepped into the hallway. Alida's room was across the hall from hers, so she tried to be as quiet as possible. She looked intently at the ceiling, then spotted the string. Glancing toward Alida's room, she crouched down, bunched her muscles, then leaped about three feet up to grab the line. She tightened her abs and swung, bringing down the ladder softly.

She took a few, quick steps up the ladder. The rooftop was cool, and a few night breezes came in off the ocean. She breathed in the salty air deeply, trying to cleanse her mind of the dream.

She sat down on the rough thatch, ignoring the few stalks poking her. Leaning against the chimney, it wasn't hard to go into a semi-conscious state known as Watch. Captain had taught it to her when it was she was considered ready to take a part on watch duty. It both relaxed and heightened the senses, letting her shut off the unimportant thoughts, and let her tune in on her senses; hearing, sight, tough, taste, and smell. Sage closed her eyes, but let the rest of her senses go on high alert.

xxx

Alida woke up. It was strange, usually other peoples night terrors kept her awake all hours of the night, but tonight she had fallen asleep with no trouble. Thanks to her shields, she was able to get a decent amount of sleep. For her, at least. She had adapted to working on minimal sleep, and had already gotten her needed few hours.

She looked out the window. It looked to be about three in the morning, judging from the angle of the moon. Shaking her head ruefully, she stepped out of bed softly. Unless she did a few chores to make herself tired, she wasn't going to go back to sleep any time soon

She stepped into the hallway and almost banged her head on the stepladder in front of her door. She hissed in pain, forcing herself not to make a sound, tempting as it was to release some of her choicest swear words.

Looking up the ladder, she could see the night sky beautifully. She frowned and started climbing up.

Feeling like a gopher, she poked her head out of the hole. She spotted a person sitting in the shadows beneath the chimney. It looked like Sage, but she couldn't be sure…

The next second she was gasping for breath as a knife pressed against her throat. Fear made her drop her walls for a second-

It was all she needed. The attacker broke off and scrambled back away from Alida.

"Bloody Hell!!" Sage half-screamed as she fell into the moonlight. "What was that for?"

"Besides the obvious?" Alida said, massaging her throat. "Take a wild guess."

"Oh…right. Sorry about that." She said, a little out of breath. "I was just in Scout mode, old habits and all that."

"I really don't want to know what old habits involve slitting people's throats before they scream." Alida said, rapidly rebuilding her walls.

"Hey, I said I was sorry! What else do you want?"

"You have no idea." She muttered.

xxx

Eldred couldn't sleep. He was just so hyped up from the day's work. He couldn't help glancing back at his first painting, hardly daring to believe that _he _had made that. His mind was full of ideas of what to paint, styles he wanted to try, and more importantly, how this new magic could help save his family.

He rolled over onto his side, trying to get comfortable. _I'll ask Alida and see if she can find any books on the great Artist-Mages of the _Adago _movement. _He thought. He remembered a few prints in his fathers study from Dydakore, Charis, Ǽrin, and a few of the other Masters. It had never really hit home until now what a legacy he had to live up too.

"Not that Gingerflower seems to have any trouble with it." He said aloud. With a loud sigh, he kicked off the covers and sat up. If he wasn't going to get to sleep, he might as well do something he liked.

Trying not to make a sound, he picked up his charcoal pencil, a drawing tablet Gingerflower had given him, and a piece of wood to prop his paper on. He remembered a way to the roof from that morning. He had been sweeping upstairs when he spotted a string hanging down from the ceiling.

"_What's that?" He had asked. _

"_It's a hatch to the roof. Sandry, Triss, Daja, and Briar used it to keep cool in the summer and take breaks." Lark said._

Eldred stepped into the hallway silently and began picking his way up the stairs cautiously, checking each step to see if it was creaky before putting his full weight on it. At the top, he found the hatch had already been lowered, and low voices floated down to him.

He sighed, of course it would have been occupied. It was something that he had wanted to do, right? So that meant that everyone else must have chosen that instant to go exploring.

He shook his head and started climbing. He pushed his supplies up first, then stepped out into the moonlight. The light of the waning moon wasn't a lot, but it was enough for him to recognize the two girls sitting there.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He asked politely.

"Nah, find a comfy spot and join us, Red." Sage said cheerfully.

"Don't mind if I do." He said, pushing his supplies towards them. He stepped nimbly onto the other side of Sage, so they made a little circle with Sage on his right and Alida on his left.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to do some drawings." He said, settling down.

"No, really? I thought you were going to commit _hara kiri_…in the name of the Art, of course." Sage said sarcastically.

"I was just wondering when you were going to remind me about that." He said.

"Maybe you should make a run for it, before Gingerflower traps you in her little bubble of miserable-ness." Alida suggested.

"Is that even a word?" Sage asked.

"I think it's 'misery'." Eldred said.

"Oh, whatever." Alida said, throwing a piece of thatch at him.

xxx

Comas walked up onto the roof, woken by the sounds of talking coming from the rooftops.

He poked his head out and saw his roommates, Alida, Eldred, and Sage sitting there, exchanging banter like it wasn't o'dark thirty.

Alida spotted him first. "Comas! Did we wake you up?" She said anxiously.

"No." He said, crossing his fingers behind his back. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Well, I had a nightmare, so I came up here first…" Sage began.

"I woke up and went to go do some chores and Sage was up here…" Alida continued.

"You got up in the middle of the night to do chores? Captain's right, merchants are crazy." Sage interrupted, looking incredulous.

"Anyway, I couldn't sleep and thought I could do some sketching on the roof, but these two were already here." Eldred finished.

"So now we're 'these two'? Can you say 'sexist pig'?" Sage said to Alida.

"Yeah, we should do something about that swelled head." Alida nodded gravely.

"I'll tackle him, you grab the charcoal stick." Sage said.

That startled a laugh out of Comas. He pulled himself up onto the roof.

"Oh, Comas, I almost forgot. You hold his feet down." Sage said.

"Hey, that's not fair! Boys stick with boys, right Comas?" Eldred said.

"Sorry gals, I'm going to have to stick with Eldred on this one." Comas said softly.

"I like those odds." Sage said with a grin.

Comas sat down between Eldred and Alida. "I'm sure I should probably take offense at that, but I'm too tired to care."

They small group kicked back. Sage leaned against the chimney, Comas lay stomach-down on the roof, facing the harbor, Alida leaned back on her forearms and looked out towards Eldred line of sight, and Eldred sat cross-legged facing the rest of the group with his art supplies. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, with only the skritch-scratching of Eldred's pencil on paper to break the quiet.

Comas didn't know what the others were thinking, but he was wondering about how far he had come. Only a few short weeks ago, he probably would have huddled on his bed and just listened to his roommates talking, and know look where he was! It had started with Alida, and he had slowly began to break out of the shell he had been in for so long.

He had even gotten to the point where he might call them…friends.

"There, finished!" Eldred said, breaking the stillness.

"Hmm?" Sage turned toward him.

Eldred flipped over his drawing. It was them, all sitting together as they were, looking over the harbor. It was a side view, as if seen from thirty-feet to the left in thin air.

"How'd you do that?' Alida said.

"Magic." Eldred said with a grin.

**Note: Sorry if this chapter has too much fluff for you, but I wanted to have more time for them to bond. It's shorter than some of my previous chapters, but I hoped you liked it the same. Also, from now on I'm going to try to have less four-part stuff and more chapters that focus on all of them equally. Thanks imakeladrygirl for adding Circle Remade to her Story Alerts, lady knight keladry for submitting ANOTHER review, it's nice to feel loved. sniffle sniffle And thanks Kathy for submitting a review, advice is nice :D **

**I cna't believe I'm being forced to beg, but...please, please, PLEASE review! I've seen other stories shorter than mine with twice the reviews I have. Is my story really that bad? Or do most people just like Tortall fan-fics better than Circle of Magic?**


	8. It Begins

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come form different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

**Note: This is why I rated it K+; Sage says 'hell' quite a bit. Just a heads up. **

Chapter Eight: It Begins

Sage carefully drew a wire under her completed pot and lifted it from the wheel. She looked at it critically and grinned. Two days after her little accident with Steve and she was learning how to throw clay. One good thing from the incident; Peregrine acknowledged that she was a powerful mage in her own right and sped up the teaching process, going from beads almost to the wheel immediately. Sage liked molding better, but it was more rewarding and seemingly magical the way the shapeless ball of clay became a delicate work of art in minutes on the wheel.

"Finished?" Peregrine said and walked over to her workstation. He picked up the pot, looked at it decisively for a few seconds then smushed it between his hands.

"Hey!" She cried out, standing up so quickly her chair tipped over.

"I expect better from you. The clay was not the right consistency." He said dismissively.

Sage sighed exasperatingly. "First it wasn't symmetrical. Then it wasn't smooth all the way around. After that you didn't like the pot shape I chose. Now you're just making stuff up!"

Peregrine ruffled her hair in the way she always hated. "Being a powerful mage is a double-edged sword, apprentice-mine. If you make a simple mistake in a serious working, the consequences could be dire. Might as well get into the habit now of making it perfect every time."

"'Dire Consequences?' You've got to be kidding me." Sage snorted.

"You do know that the entire temple is calling you 'gecko girl'?"

Sage colored. "Mistakes were made. I'm only human."

"Just be thankful that the mistake was more good than bad."

Sage rolled her eyes. Steve was basking in the sun on the table, soaking in the afternoon sun. As if he knew they were talking about him, he opened one eye lazily and croaked.

Sage was trying to come up with a good comeback on the spot when the bell tower started ringing.

Peregrine frowned. "You're dismissed. Get back to Discipline as fast as you can." Sage opened her mouth to ask more when said "Go!" urgently and gave her a little push out the door.

"If we don't meet again for a while, take this piece of clay and practice molding _without making any more mistakes. _Hurry!"

Sage was still confused and a little worried, but she whistled. Steve jumped off the table and jumped onto the floor and quickly scampered over to her and up her pants leg, curling around her neck.

She sprinted out the door, running back to Discipline. Then the shaking started.

The first blast hit outside the walls of the Temple. Sage fell down with a curse. "What in Hellfires!" She cursed and stood up. The next explosion hit the courtyard, blasting the fountain to smithereens. "Ah dang." She said, staring at the rubble.

"Ballista!" She cried, as the ballista fired again, hitting near her, spraying dirt around her. She cried, raising her arm in front of her face. She dimly noticed that Steve jumped off her shoulder. She fell down again. She started spraying out language she had thought she had forgotten.

"Steve?" She called out, coughing. She heard a little chirp coming toward her. She turned to see Steve coming toward her. She raised her eye brows. It looked more like her was _swimming _through the earth like it was no more substantial than water.

"Of course, why not." She muttered darkly. "Come on, lets get out of here." She picked him up and started a mad dash to Discipline. None of the buildings had been hit yet, so Discipline offered a small promise of safety.

She winced at the smaller explosions around her; whoever they were, they were firing cannons along with ballista and catapults.

"Sage! Hurry!!" She looked up to see Larks standing in the doorway of Discipline, holding the door open for her. She put on another burst of speed and leaped through the door, sliding in under Larks legs. Lark closed the door with a slam, lowering the plank of wood and sealing the door.

"You're the last one here. Thank Mila." Lark said passionately.

"What was that!?" Sage choked out.

"That." Lark said grimly, "Was unwelcome company."

xxx

As soon as Sage stepped into the kitchen, she was hit by a tackle-hug from Alida.

"Sage! I was so worried! After I heard the shots, and I got back and you weren't here and Eldred and Comas didn't know where you were, and…." Alida knew she was babbling, but she had been so _scared _about Sage.

"Choking! Not breathing!" Sage gasped.

"Oh, sorry." Alida stepped back, still looking a bit shaken.

Alida breathed. All her friends were here, and they were safe. _BOOM! _Uh, make that safe-ish. The echoing cannon fire rang out through the Temple, and every now and again you could here the smashing of stone and pottery.

"Maybe I'm just new to this whole 'safe' thing, but wouldn't you call this, uh, what's the word…NOT!" Sage said, still massaging her throat.

Lark was pale. "After the pirates raid four years ago, the Lightsbridge mages placed wards around the city that would go off if something crossed them."

Another bang rattled the windows of the cottage. "Something like that?" Eldred said caustically.

"Yes. I don't understand why we weren't warned." Lark said, leaning against the counter. She held a mug of tea in both hands.

"Gee, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Lightsbridge mages losing their power and getting sick." Sage said, and sat down heavily.

"Why does every place I go turn into hell?" Alida said, her voice rough from trying not to cry.

No one knew what to say to that remark. Alida sank down into a chair and put her head in her hands. She peered through her fingers to watch what the others were doing. Sage was sharpening her knives with a whetstone and muttering under her breath. Comas was curled up in his chair, his arms around his legs, looking scared. Alida didn't blame him, as another shot rang out. Eldred was staring into the fire pensively.

"I don't understand. Even if the wards didn't work, why aren't we being defended? We have mages a-plenty in this Temple, and the Duke's standing army is stationed only a few hours away." Alida said, breaking the silence.

"Because of me." Eldred whispered.

They turned to look at him. He looked up from the fire, tears shining on his cheeks. "I delivered that notice to the Duke. He sent the most of army and harriers to fa Ashe keep, to defend my family. It's all my fault." His voice cracked on the last word.

"Ouch." Sage said, shaking her head. Alida shot her a look; then walked over to Eldred. She sat on the table in front of him and forced him to look her in the eye.

"It. Is. Not. Your. Fault." Alida said slowly. "If you hadn't delivered the notice, your family would have died. It's better that we face these guys; we have a chance." She looked up at Lark. "This is a Mage School as well as a Temple. Why haven't we gone out there to fight."

Another blast hit, shaking the cottages foundations. Sage looked over at her. "That answer your question."

Alida shook off the remark and looked at Lark. "We can do something! The most powerful ambient mages train here! Surely some would have stayed!"

Lark bit her lip. "Academic magic is more useful for fighting. Usually we would be able to count on Lightsbridge mages to assist us, but as they have been drained, I doubt we can count on them. I can help, along with a few others of the teachers, but we lost many in our ranks. Frostpine, Niko, and Rosethorn have left with their students. Last time, we counted on them and Daja, Sandry, Briar, and Tris. Most of the ambient mages here are craftsman and women whose abilities aren't exactly fighting material."

Another round of cannon fire drowned out any talking for a few minutes.

"Why haven't we been killed yet?" Comas said meekly.

"Always looking on the bright side." Sage said.

"Sage!" Alida said. Sage held up her hands defensively.

"The bell you heard is rung only in dire circumstances." Lark began.

"You don't say." Eldred managed to crack with a weak grin.

"It is a signal for any and all persons on the grounds to get inside. Wards have been built into the very rock of the Temple buildings. Stone mages built these walls and left a lasting impression on them. Every time a new stone mage is trained here, if they are powerful enough, they help strengthen the wards." Lark said.

"Didn't the walls get busted when the pirates attacked?" Alida asked.

Lark winced. "It has been a while since the wards were strengthened," she admitted. "Still, there appears to be enough magic left so that unless the cannon is fired directly at the building, the structure should be safe."

Sage snorted. "Should?" She said under her breath.

xxx

Eldred pushed away from the table and walked up the stairs. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Alida stood up to go after him, but was held back by Sage, who shook her head.

He was privately grateful to her. He really needed to be alone right now. He was at the top of the stairs when he leaned against the wall, fighting off tears. Again. He wanted to go to his room, but it was on the bottom level, and he really needed to be alone right now.

His gaze fell upon the string to get to the roof. _Here's hoping Lark was right about the wards. _He thought. He jumped up and caught the string, pulling it down. The ladder fell and slid out.

Eldred took a deep breath and braced himself. He stepped up the ladder and looked out...

Into hell. His breath caught in his throat. Fires were eating up the city, darkening the sky with their smoke and ash. In the distance he could see the ballista towers and catapults. He couldn't see the cannons, but he was sure they were there. The damage around him gave enough proof of that.

He hadn't stepped of the ladder. He was just standing there, half-in and half-out of the hatch. He looked around. The wards had held. There was scattered damage around the grounds of the Temple; a few people were running about bleeding from debris, but nothing serious. There was no damage to the buildings beside what flying debris had done. There was a hole in one wall, but so far nothing had gotten threw it.

_Count your blessings_, he remembered his father telling him that whenever he complained about something. _Much better_, he thought wryly. _We're going to get blown to bits instead of cut to ribbons. _

Now he stretched his eyes further. He could see troops in the distance. He frowned. _Why haven't they attacked yet?_ He wondered.

One of the catapults fired. Eldred's eyes followed the parabola as the loaded stone arched gracefully, then fell inside the grounds. He shuddered as it crushed the oak tree he had moved. A few feet back and the Temple offices would have been totaled.

Eldred stepped down slowly until his head was beneath the hatch again. He rested his head against the ladder rungs and breathed in deeply. He felt old. _It's too much, _He thought.

He walked downstairs in a daze. He sat down and put his head on his crossed arms in front of him on the table. Dimly, he heard Comas and Lark talking.

"Comas, you told me you could put a trace on someone. Do you think you could create a link between two people?"

Eldred looked up.

Comas bit his lip. "I don't know, I've never met Moonstream. I suppose if I could find her, I could try," he said slowly.

"Good." Lark said grimly. "Because we need to get in contact with her, and I'm not leaving you four alone or sending one of you out."

"How am I supposed to find Moonstream? There are a lot of mages, and I can't touch each one and find out if it's the right person." Comas said.

"Ahem." Alida coughed. Lark and Comas turned to her. "Moonstream is my teacher, I know her signature." Alida said. "I could find a spell of hers and set you two on it. I'll drop out, and Comas can follow the trail to her. Comas can then make the link and drop out."

"Once I make the link, you two should be able to speak mind-to-mind. Just pull out when you're ready." Comas finished.

"Sage, Eldred, can you two go into another room? Comas and Alida will join you when their part is finished."

Sage nodded and grabbed Eldred's arm. She dragged him off to his room.

She closed the door, then let go of Eldred. He almost fell over from the lack of support. Sage ran across the room and closed the window, bolting it.

She turned back to him and crossed her arms. "Alright, spill." She said.

Eldred looked up at her, confused. She rolled her eyes. "Come on, I heard the hatch open and the ladder slide out. You went up on the roof, and I want to know what you saw."

"No, you don't." Eldred said.

"Yes, I do." Sage snapped. He was still looking at her doubtfully. She glared at him and pointed towards herself. "Hello! Mercenary? I _need _to know."

"Why do you need to know?" He asked.

"Well, when you're going to sneak out and save a place, it's best to know what you're up against. It helps with coming up with a plan."

xxx

The three sat in meditation. Lark on one side, Comas and Alida holding hands on the other.

Comas was opening his mage sight in contact with Alida so she could see and recognize Moonstream's signature. His "self" pulled "Alida" along, rising above Discipline and looking out for the strains of magic.

Comas "gulped". The situation looked bad, even for someone ignorant in the schematics of war like him. The ballista and catapults bore down on the city like towering giants of destruction. Platforms of cannons caused havoc in the areas where they were in range. Fire bloomed across the city, and the streets rang with the screams of the wounded and dying. Comas shuddered.

Alida pulled him back to his task. She pointed out a tiny thread on the wind, a spell bearing Moonstream's signature. Comas studied it to make sure he could find it again. It was a silvery-blue, radiating calmness and power.

He felt Alida drop out, then Lark rising to take her place. Making sure Lark was behind him, he "grabbed" onto the cord and followed it to it's creator. He traveled across the Temple grounds, finally following it to the Temple offices. He plunged into the room…

…and hit a wall. He "bounced" off a little. He tapped the wall experimentally. It was solid. He looked through to see Moonstream glowing faintly. She was in meditation, and behind wards. He looked over at Lark and mentally asked what to do.

Lark thrust herself forward against the glass, making an audible _gong_ that echoed throughout the dome. Moonstream's eyes opened with a start. Comas tapped on the wards again.

Somehow, Moonstream got the message, and she rubbed out a section of the chalked circle. Comas "reached" out to Moonstream's "self" and took her "hand". He quickly drew out a fine thread of Moonstream's magic, then took a proffered strand of Lark's power. He wove them together, binding them with some of his own magic.

He then "let go" and allowed his self to be slingshot-ed back across campus and back to his body.

He opened his eyes and looked around blearily.

"Did it work?" Alida asked cautiously.

He looked next to him to see her sitting there, looking at him anxiously.

Comas nodded, then winced. He had over-exerted himself, and his head hurt. "Least I think it did." He clarified.

Alida stood up, relief written on her face. She held out her hand, and Comas gratefully allowed himself to be pulled upright.

"Come on, let's go find Sage and Eldred." She said. Comas nodded and let Alida lead them out of the kitchen.

"Sage? Eldred?" Alida called.

"In here." Sage's voice called from Eldred's room.

Alida opened it and found the two of them sitting on the floor, facing each other. Eldred was pointing out things on what looked like quick sketches of battle-formations, while Sage was writing out a list of some kind.

"What's all this?" Alida said, motioning to the layout.

"Plans." Eldred said off-handedly.

"Oh?" Alida said, eyebrows raised.

"Well, you didn't think we were just going to sit here and let the Temple be over run, did you?" Sage said, still looking at her list and double checking things.

"You can't be serious." Alida said, looking shocked.

"Well, we are, and we can, so we will." Sage said definitely. She looked up from her papers at Eldred. "I think I can stretch out my weapons supplies to give both of us three knives, more if I can get out and pick the lock for the armory."

"Excellent. Here, I finished my drawings of what I imagine it to look like from the air. Any ideas." Eldred passed Sage the sketches.

"What do you mean 'both of us'? If you're going to do something, I'm coming too." Alida said. Sage looked up.

"Alida, I know you want to, but we think it's best if just Eldred and I go. We're the ones with the most experience and the ones with the least to lose." Sage said.

"What about me? This is my only home, I have just as much to lose as you do! I have no where else!" Alida said, outraged. "And I my magic can help us too, you know!"

Sage still didn't show any sign of budging. Alida crossed her arms. "If you don't let me come, I'll tell Lark."

That got Eldred and Sage's attention. "What?" Eldred said.

"I'll tell Lark about your plan. I'm sure it would be hard to get out when your tied up and drugged." Alida said.

Sage narrowed her eyes. "That was below the belt." Alida looked at her steadily. "Alright, you can come. But if you fall behind, we're not waiting for you." Sage said with a sigh, rubbing out her calculations.

Comas groaned. The three looked over at him with a start. They had forgotten about the fourth member of their cottage.

"Comas?" Eldred said uncertainly.

Comas forced himself to look at them. "I bound Lark and Moonstream together with my own magic. I'm a part of their conversation. I can hear them."

Sage looked at him. "What are they saying?"

"They're talking about what Lark saw when she was going to Moonstream. She could see everything. From what Lark says, they could have over run us at any point."

"They're still a little nervous. Whatever is draining the academic magic, they're not sure it's working on the ambient mages. Which it isn't." Sage pointed out proudly. Alida hushed her.

"Moonstream thinks their trying to get to someone. Someone that can give them more than just the city and Winding Circle. Moonstream thinks their going after the Duke." Comas said, then pulled himself out of the conversation.

The three were looking at him with open mouths. Sage summed up what everyone was thinking in two words.

"BLOODY HELL!!"

**Note: WHOO HOO! I got so many reviews from my begging, I just wanted to make this the best chapter so far! I want to thank the following people for submitting reviews when I had lost all hope of hitting more than ten reviews: lady knight keladry, Kathy, Jellicle-in-the-box, LackOfColorHere, Abbs of the faeries, and the knights who until recently said Ni. Also thank you Abbs of the faeries, LackOfColorHere, and the Knights who until recently said Ni for adding me to their alerts. You all rock!!!!**

**Sorry for the length. This chapter was sort of hard to write since it was a turning point and a semi-big action scene. Did I make it? Review please!**


	9. Here It Goes

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Nine: Here It Goes

"Alright, new plan. We need to get to the armory or forge, whichever is easier, and get more weapons. Then, we get out of here by that big hole in the wall that Red talked about. Finally, we go and save Winding Circle and the Duke. Any questions?" Sage said with a wry grin.

"Yeah, do you have anything specific for how this 'saving' thing is going to happen?" Alida said.

"Very good question, and I'm still working on that." Sage said. Alida gave her a look. "Hey, if you have a better plan, I'd like to hear it!"

"Why don't we concentrate on getting out of Winding Circle before we start getting down to details." Eldred cut in.

"I'm just saying," Alida continued. "When us three, twelve-year-old, untrained mages go up against an army of battle-hardened soldiers with ballista, cannons, and probably a heckuva lot a war mages, we should probably have a plan."

"I like your optimism." Sage said.

At the same time, Comas was cutting in with, "Excuse me? Three mages?"

"Sage, Alida, and me." Eldred said, pointing at each person as he said their name.

Comas colored. "What about me?"

"What about you?" Sage said. Alida elbowed her.

"What she means to say is, we didn't want to volunteer you." Alida said patiently.

"Yeah, it had nothing to do with the fact you're still half-afraid of me and are scared to death of new people." Sage muttered. Alida elbowed her harder.

Comas' blush deepened. "Well, I'm not going to be left behind. I'm coming with you."

"Like hell you are." Sage said.

"No really! I want to fight, I've been here longer than you!" Comas protested.

"Comas, no offense, but you have no skills or practice with this sort of thing." Eldred said patiently. "Sage is a mercenary, I've trained in my father's salle, and Alida has experienced enough emotion to be able to keep her head in a, erm, _sticky _situation. I don't want to have to watch your back too in a fight."

"And who says I need my back watched?" Comas said hotly. His indignation at being talked to like a child was over-riding his usual shyness. He knew that what Eldred said was right, but he had faced enough loss already. He wasn't about to lose his first friends in ages. His fear for himself was being replaced by fear for his friends.

"Comas, think fast!" Sage said, and threw a wadded up sock at him.

Comas flinched away from it instinctively. The sock hit him in the face and bounced off.

"Exactly." Sage said, satisfied.

Comas took a deep breath. He was at a crossroads, and he knew it. He could admit that Sage and the others were right and stay behind. He could stick with them and go out, knowing that he might not come back.

"I don't care. I'm coming." He said quietly.

Eldred looked at him for a moment, then nodded. "Fine."

Sage stared at him. "WHAT?!"

"Sage!" Alida said, then put her finger to her lips.

Sage glowered at her. "Fine…what?" She said, whispering.

"If he wants to come, I'm not going to stop him." Eldred said, studying the diagrams again.

Sage opened her mouth to protest again, but Alida put her hand over Sage's mouth.

"Just, go with it Sage." Alida said exasperatedly. Sage rolled her eyes, but nodded. She pulled back on Alida's thumb until she let go.

Comas smiled gratefully at Alida. She held up her hand. "Don't make me regret it." She said firmly.

"Alright, first things first. Who can pick locks?" Eldred said, rolling up the sheets carefully.

"I can." Sage said, raising her hand a little above her head.

Eldred nodded. "Good. Can you break into the armory and get what you think we will need? You're the one most knowledge about that sort of thing."

Sage nodded with a grin and was out the window in a flash.

Eldred turned to Alida. "Question: do you need your violin to work your magic?"

Alida thought for a moment. "Well, it's a lot easier with it, but I suppose any instrument would work. Or anything that makes a melody. I can sense emotions and stuff without them, but I don't think I can project anything without some sort of conduit."

"So, could you sing a spell?" He asked.

"In theory, probably. But I don't want to test it on a battlefield." Alida said.

"Then get any easily movable instruments you brought or be ready to sing. A violin is too bulky and isn't exactly the easiest thing to play while you're running." Eldred said.

Alida nodded and left to go to her room.

Eldred turned finally to Comas. "Do you need anything for your spells? Thread…needle…anything?" He said, trying to remember what his mother and sisters used to sew with.

Comas shook his head. "Nope. I'll use what cloth or thread there is on a battle field."

Alida entered the room on tip-toe and closed the door silently. "I think Lark is still talking with Moonstream, but I didn't want to chance it." She said quietly.

She spread out her collection of instruments on the floor. A pennywhistle. A flute. A tambourine. A harmonica. "This is all I could find. Are we bringing a bag?"

"Not unless you want to carry it." Eldred said.

Alida pursed her lips. "Okay, I'll bring the harmonica and the pennywhistle." She pushed the tambourine and the flute under Eldred's bed.

Right on cue, Sage slipped back into the room through the window. Fell, was more accurate a term. She pushed a burlap sack in through the window first. The window sill was higher than her thigh, so she had to do a sort of hop-skip thing to get her leg through the window, then wiggle through before sliding in and falling on her face.

Alida stifled a laugh as Sage stood up and dusted herself off. "I'm sure that window's getting higher." She said with dignity.

"Whatever floats your boat." Alida said.

"What'd you get?" Eldred asked.

"Some good stuff." Sage said. "I didn't take anything for me except another sword." Sage drew a long broadsword out of the sack. She slid it into her belt. "Six knives and this should be enough. Eldred, for you, I grabbed a rapier and a belt knife. You learned how to fence, right?"

Eldred nodded and she threw the rapier hilt first at him. He caught it expertly and practiced a few slashing moves with it to get used to the blade's balance. "I wasn't sure if you had learned how to use a cross-bow, so I grabbed one just in case." Sage continued and passed him a heavy cross-bow. Eldred nodded again and slung it over his back.

"What did you choose for me?" Alida asked curiously.

"I didn't think giving you a sword was a good idea, so I grabbed a baton." Sage drew out a heavy stick about the length of her fore-arm. "It's mahogany with a lead weighted core. Put the loop around you wrist so you won't lose it. Just hold and swing." She finished demonstrating. "You can break bones with this thing with absolutely no skill at all as long as you have decent hand-eye coordination. The lead core will also let you stop blades." Sage passed it over to her. "And just in case, and I stress this as being a _last _resort, here's a knife. I'll braid some barbed wire into your hair before we go." Sage finished by handing the knife to her before turning to Comas.

"At first I was going to get you another baton like Alida's. Then I thought that might bring the fight to close. So I got you a far-range weapon." Sage pulled out a slingshot. "You know how to use this?"

Comas nodded. "I'm from a farming settlement. I had to guard the livestock with one of those."

"Good. I was afraid you'd end up whacking yourself in the head before we even saw the enemy. Here are a few lead balls to use as ammo before we find some rocks. I also took a knife like Alida's, but only use it if you absolutely have to." Sage passed Comas his weapons. "Everybody good?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Comas said.

"Oh yeah!" Alida said, giving a few enthusiastic swings with her baton.

"Yes." Eldred said.

"Then let's get this show on the road." Sage said cheerfully. She checked to make sure all her knives were in place, then led the way out the window.

The blasts were less frequent now that night had fallen. Sage stood by the window and helped her friends out. Alida first, then Comas, and finally Eldred. Eldred then took the lead across the grounds, keeping to the shadows as much as possible.

Sage was just starting to relax when she looked up at the black sky to see a dark shape blotting out the stars and arcing a path towards them. "Move!" She screamed and pulled the closest person, Alida, against a wall of one of the buildings.

The impact from the projectile sprayed debris everywhere, pelting the group with rocks and dirt. They didn't have time to catch their breath before Comas screamed, "Incoming!"

The group was pressed with their back against a wall. There was no where to go. Sage watched as the white limestone chunk the size of her room came flying towards them. "HELL!!" She swore. She didn't have time to think, only time to act. She threw up her hands and braced for what she knew was going to be a very painful death…

…that never came. Sage opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them. She saw that the others had done the same and were hunched over against the wall. Sage turned and swore again. "Bloody Hell!"

There was a wave of dirt in front of her. She looked around it to see that the shot had imbedded itself in the shield. Sage pulled her hands back in shock. The wave crumbled in front of her, showering her in dirt and clay.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Eldred said.

"Neither did I." Sage replied. She heard a chirping sound and paused. "Please tell me I'm the only one who heard that." She groaned.

"Look Sage, Steve followed you here!" Alida said, pointing.

Sage followed the finger and saw with a sinking heart that, sure enough, her clay gecko had followed her there. He stopped in front of her and looked up and Sage with big eyes.

She made a motion. "Shoo." Steve just cocked his head and ran up her leg, sitting on her shoulder in his customary position.

"Looks like we have a new recruit." Eldred said wryly. Sage just glared at him.

"Come on, the opening is right over there." Comas said.

Still pressed against the wall, the group sprinted over to the opening, Sage at the back looking around for anymore nasty surprises from above. But, the fates must have decided that two close calls were enough and the rest of them landed farther away on the other side of the complex.

Eldred was through the gap first, cross-bow out and ready to fire. After a few seconds, he called back. "Coast is clear. Come on." Comas stepped through cautiously, Alida followed him, and Sage stepped through backwards, making guarding the rear.

"Now what?" Alida whispered.

Eldred tapped his finger on the cross-bow. "We need to protect the Duke."

"Oh, and while we're at it, why don't we stop the imminent destruction of Winding Circle." Sage said.

"Sage is right, if we deny them the Duke, they'll just attack full-out." Alida said. "The catapults are just a show of how powerful they are. If they decide to attack in earnest we're doomed."

"This is what we mercenaries like to call, 'getting the bit'." Sage said. They looked at her. "Look, if we protect the Duke, we save Emelan but lose Winding Circle and the city. If we try to stop the army, we'll probably lose the Duke and die anyway."

"But we can't just give up and let them have the city!" Comas objected.

"I agree with Sage. We need to save the Duke." Eldred said. Before Comas could protest, he continued. "We can develop a further strategy there."

"There's just that small problem of being twelve-year-old half-trained mages." Sage said, leaning against the outer wall.

"So? Sandry, Tris, Briar, and Daja were only ten when they turned off the pirate attack." Eldred countered.

"Yeah, but they were…" Alida trailed off. Her eyes lost focus for just a moment before lighting up. "I have an idea!"

"Super." Sage muttered.

Alida didn't hear. "The Four were so powerful because they were inter-woven, their magics bound together. What if we did something like that?"

Sage laughed. "That's funny! If we survive, I'm going to remember that one!"

Alida shook her head. "Really! Comas is a thread mage, he could do it!"

Comas held up his hands. "First of all, I'm a weaver mage, not a stitch-witch. Secondly, I don't have a string with four knots for us. All I have is this thread about a foot long." He said, drawing out the thread he had woven a few days ago.

Eldred took it and looked at the string. "What if we made some knots in it?" He asked.

"I don't think that's how it works." Comas said.

"There has to be come way!" Alida said, frustrated.

Sage rolled here eyes. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but…" She reached into her belt pouch and pulled out four beads. They were a pure, crystalline white and perfectly spherical. "These were the first four beads I made. Originally, they were out of red clay. When they were fired, they turned this color."

Sage passed them around and turned to Alida. "So what now, O Brilliant One?"

"I don't know." Alida confessed.

"It was a good idea. Why don't we hold on to them until we get a better idea of what to do?" Eldred said. He took up the bead and strung them on Comas' thread. "In the meantime, let's get over to the Dukes castle and decide what to do from there."

They were making to go when Alida stopped them. "Uh, I don't know if you thought about this, but there is a ginormus hole in Winding Circle's defenses."

Eldred winced. He had thought about it, but, as uncomfortable as it was, there wasn't anything he could do about it. "We can't help it. If we're lucky, they won't find it."

Sage snorted. "Yeah, right, it's only a few hundred feet in diameter."

"Well, what do you want to do?" Eldred asked her.

"Thank you, I was wondering when you would get to that." Sage said. She turned toward the wall and raised her hands. She balled them into fists and pulled upward. A wall of dirt and clay covered the entire wall. Sage then began making motions in the air. She scraped off the clay around where the hole was, then carefully began to seal the hole neatly, leaving no gaps.

After a few minutes, Sage broke off with a gasp. Sweat covered her body, and she fell down onto one knee. "I can't believe that actually worked." She said shakily. She struggled to stand, but couldn't. Alida offered her a hand and pulled Sage up.

Leaning on Alida heavily, Sage began to walk toward Eldred and Comas shakily. "Time to go." She said. Eldred and Comas were both staring at her blankly. Sage turned toward Alida.

"If you would be so kind, please raise my arm and slap them for me." She said politely.

"My pleasure." Alida said with a grin.

"Remind me to never take the last roll from her." Comas said, looking at Eldred.

"Only if you'll do the same for me." Eldred said.

The four friends shared a quick laugh, then turned toward the sliver of a moon and the Duke's keep.

**Note: Whew, this is the first chapter I attempted with third person omniscient POV instead of each person having their own little segment. What'd you think? Also, I've really gotten to like these charries, so I'm starting to think about righting a sequel. If I do, I'll rename this one Circle Remade: 's book. Whose should it be? Tell me your thoughts and REVIEW! Pretty please puppy dog eyes **

**Thank you, thank you, thank you lady knight keladry for writing ANOTHER review, you rock my socks!!! Kudos goes to Abbs of the faeries and LackofColorHere for submitting more reviews. AmericanElemental added Circle Remade to her Favorite Stories and syed added me to her Author Alerts. It's nice to know people like your writing : )**


	10. The Duke

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Ten: The Duke

Sage consulted the map and oriented herself with the moon. The Duke's Keep was rather far away on foot, and they had to constantly stop to make sure they were unseen and on the right path. Eldred leaned over her shoulder and raised a small candle-drawing.

He had come up with this idea after seeing Sage seal the wall. All of the friends were lost in their own thoughts of how they could use their powers in new and different ways. Eldred had brought a pencil and a small sketch-notebook. He had sketched a candle and _pushed_ a bit of power into it, making the candle light and give off a small glow. It was handy for when they were in an area where the thin light of the moon did not reach them. Then it could be folded up and put away until they needed it again.

"One mile more in that direction," Sage said, pointing over the map to the plains in front of them. "Then three miles south-southwest. We're almost there." She said, with audible relief.

The journey had worn down everyone's nerves, mostly Comas', but also Sage. Eldred knew a little of what was to come and what they would have to do, but Sage was the one who knew a suicide mission when she saw it. No amount of training was enough to prepare one when they saw death coming with no visible way to stop it. Sage had a few, fleeting thoughts of leaving the others and running for it, but she had dismissed them as quickly as they had come. _I won't leave again._ She thought, gritting her teeth. _Not like Damian. Never again. _

Two hours later the four were crouched at the base of the Citadel, trying to figure out how they could have over-looked one small, important detail…

"I think we made a calculatory error." Eldred said calmly.

"I think you mean…'How the blazes do we get in!'" Sage said.

"Maybe we could ask the guard to let us in." Comas said tentatively.

"Yeah, I'm sure any guard on duty will let four strange-looking ragged teenagers into a deeply guarded castle, especially with a, gee I don't know, A FREAKING ARMY ON THEIR DOORSTEP!" Sage said.

"Look, there's a way in." Alida said, pointing to a window about fifty feet up.

"Oh yes, lets all just, flap our arms and fly up there on a passing breeze." Sage pantomimed it. She knew she was being rude, but it was the only way to relieve her nerves. Most people became quiet or talked really fast when nervous, she cut other people down.

"Couldn't you do that thing you did for the wall and raise us up on a platform or something." Alida asked.

"Oh, and how do you propose I do that? I could barely walk after that last time, and I can't even run now, two hours later. So, unless you would like to lend me some power, I'm not going to be doing any heavy magic for a while." Sage said.

Alida made a frustrated sound. "If only we could have figured out a way to tie our magics together!"

"I said I was sorry." Comas said.

"No one's blaming you." Alida said hurriedly. "I'm just letting off steam."

"Well point it to someone else, because tonight is humid enough without you adding any hot air." Sage said. She leaned against the wall, letting the coolness in and calm her spirit. Sage opened her eyes and saw Alida's hurt look.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I've just got a bad case of the nerves."

"What're you doing Eldred?' Comas asked.

Sage and Alida turned to look at the fourth member of their party. He hadn't said anything since Sage's comment about flying and had taken on a pensive look. Suddenly, he turned toward the shore and look out over the ocean. He quickly took in the tall, dark clouds on the horizon.

_Two great ideas in one night, I'm on a roll._ He thought.

Sage, Alida, and Comas watched as Eldred raised his right arm, his left held bent at the elbow and close to his waist. His raised his first two fingers on both hands held together and pointed with his right hand at the clouds. Closing one eye, he moved his hand until it was directly on the cloud. Then, imagining the world as his canvas, he took a small edge of the cloud and smeared it on the horizon, like paint. He dropped his hands and studied the effect with a grin. His experiment had worked, one edge of the cloud was now spread out over the sky to the right.

Now to try what he was planning. "Guys, stand directly beneath the window and brace yourselves. Once you get up, find something to use as rope and lower it down. If I'm unconscious, lower Sage down to tie me to it and raise me through the window."

"What?" Alida said.

"Just do it!"

"Nobles." Sage grumbled, doing as Eldred had said. Comas was looking at the storm clouds expectantly.

Eldred took a slow, deep breath, then brought up his hands again. This time, he was going to have to control it better, and not have such a big impact. He tilted his fingers so they were still pointed at the clouds, but the sides were facing the sky.

He took a small, little edge of the cloud and pulled it toward him. Without giving himself time to think, he thrust it under his friends and aimed them through the window. He didn't know after that.

"Comas, love you lots, but, uh…YOU'RE CRUSHING MY SPLEEN!!" Sage groaned. It was a miracle all three of them had made it through the window without smacking into the wall around it. Granted, they were all pile on top of one another, and Comas' pointy elbow was stabbing her in the side, but the important this was that they were in.

Comas rolled off of Sage and fell face down onto the floor. Puffs of dust exploded from the carpet, making Alida sneeze. She stood up shakily.

"Never again." Alida said, looking quite ill.

"You have no idea how many times I've told myself that, but it always seems to happen again." Sage said, struggling to her feet.

Comas stood up and looked around. They were in a room that obviously hadn't been used for years. Tapestries faded from the sun and time covered the walls, and furniture was leaned against the walls haphazardly.

Sage stretched her back, hearing the audible creak as she stretched out a kink. "How's Red doing?"

Comas was closest to the window. He looked down and winced. "Out cold." He announced.

"I guess we'd better save him then." Sage said with fake regret.

Alida shuffled through one of the wardrobes and pulled out sheets. "Comas, help me tie them together."

A few knots later, a rope that looked to be about long enough was wrapped around the corner of a four-poster bed.

Sage had tied a knot around her stomach and was looking out the window apprehensively.

"Something about jumping out a window seems like a bad idea." She said.

"Just go." Alida said.

Sage was about to jump when the door cracked open. Before anyone could react, every cloth in the room leaped out at them, wrapping and tieing them so tightly they could barely breath.

Comas looked up and squinted at the figure in the doorway.

"Comas?" The figure said uncertainly.

"Lady Sandilene?"

**Note: Oh, left you with a cliffhanger! Bet you didn't see that one coming! Sorry for the A)Shortness and B)Long time between updates. I just started High School as a Freshman on Monday (8/27) and have been weighed down with homework. I managed to squeeze this in between Geometry and Biology homework, hence it's shortness. I can promise a long chapter on Friday or Saturday, and will try to update when I can on weekdays. But I will update on weekends. Or try to. I /WILL/ finish this, even if I have to flunk Geometry! (at which time I will probably be banned from the computer. Go figure) Anyway, it's time for my annual thank you to reviewers and the such-like. **

**Lady knight keladry and Jellicle-in-the-box, for their continuing support. LackofColorHere, Abbs of the faeries, C.T, Eleczo and Mithrilsword Magechild for reviews. Thanks C.T. Eleczo for adding Circle Remade Story Alert and creepygirl13 for adding Circle Remade to her Favorite Story list. You all rock…OUT LOUD!**


	11. Plans

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Eleven: Plans

The cloth that had bound them so tightly a few seconds before suddenly relaxed and moved back to their proper positions. All three friends fell down with an _oof! _from the sudden lack of support.

Lady Sandriline fa Toren crossed the room in three strides and hauled Comas to his feet unceremoniously.

"What are you doing here!" She demanded. "Why aren't you at Winding Circle, where it's safe."

"I don't think anywhere is safe at the moment, begging you're pardon." Sage said from the floor. She rocked back on the palms of her hands and pushed up, leaping to her feet. "Now, since it's obvious you and Comas know each other, perhaps you would be so kind as to enlighten us to your accquaintenship."

"Lady Sandriline fa Toren, stitch witch. You can call me Sandry." She said shortly. Ignoring Sage she turned back to Comas. Sage rolled her eyes and mouthed, "Nobles." over Sandry's shoulder.

"You still haven't answered my question, Comas." She said dangerously.

Comas looked trapped. His eyes pleaded with Alida and Sage to do something. Alida came to his rescue.

"We can explain, but could you first get the fourth member of our party up here?" She asked politely.

"Fourth?" Sandry raised her eyebrows. Sage pointed out the window. Sandry crossed to the casement and looked out. "The unconscious boy lying on the ground?" She asked, clearly holding her temper back with an effort.

"Yep, that's him." Sage said.

Sandry sighed, then picked up the rope they had prepared earlier. She threw it down, then made some motions and the sheet tied itself around Eldred. She carefully raised him up, minding so that his head didn't hit the window.

"Glad I'm not him." Sage muttered. Eldred looked pale, and his face was pinched with the effort of getting the group into the window.

Sandry turned toward the three-some standing guiltily in front of her. "I need to attend to him, but as soon as he's fine, you _will _explain yourselves!"

With strength that betrayed her small size, she picked up Eldred and threw him over her shoulder. She turned to them. "Follow me." She exited the room. Sage, Alida, and Comas exchanged looks, then followed.

Sandry led them down several flights of stairs, the whole time (as Sage reckoned it), getting closer to the center of the Keep. Sandry was now talking to them over her shoulder.

"We've retreated to the center of the Keep along with a handful of the Duke's Guards that are left. The rest are waiting to defend on the battlements. I knew someone had gotten in, you four activated my trip wires out in the courtyard."

Sage looked at Alida, confused. She had been on the alert for guards and defenses around the Keep, but she definitely hadn't seen any trip wires.

"Magical trip-wires, in case you were wondering." Sandry said. "I came up here, expecting to find invading spies, and I find four children." She sighed loudly. "You're no older than Pasco, and can probably get into just as much trouble as him. Good thing I found you, and not one of the guards. With the Keep and Summersea as it is, they've gone to shoot first, ask questions later."

Sage gulped audibly. Getting hit with a crossbow bolt at point-blank range was not high on her to-do list. It was somewhere between poking a dragon with a stick and jumping off the walls of Winding Circle.

They came to a large door now, flanked by two guardsmen. Sandry stepped between them neatly and drew her finger down a line burned into the middle of the door. "It's a recognition sensor." She told the three. "It recognizes those allowed to enter and blocks the ones that aren't." She opened the door and walked in.

It was a large hall, probably once used for eating, but had now been turned into a refugee camp for all those in the Keep. In the corner, a pot boiled over a fireplace, and several kitchen staff tended to it. A few children played quietly on one side of the area, and bedrolls were spread out all over the floor. A curtain was hung over a large section of the room, separating one corner from the rest of the camp. That was where they were heading now.

"This is the Infirmary." Sandry told them, and held the curtain aside for them to enter before them.

Sandry dropped Eldred down on the cot closest to her and stretched her back. "Gods, that boy was heavy." She sat down next to his cot. "What happened?"

"He just over-extended himself magically." Alida said.

"Hmm, I'll give him some juice then." Sandry said and walked over to the medicine cabinet. She picked out a jar of purple liquid then came back. She dipped her fingers in and spread some of the liquid on his lips and waited. Eldred's tongue poked out and licked up the drops. Apparently satisfied, Sandry dipped in a spoon and brought out a heaping spoonful of the stuff. She carefully poured the mixture down Eldred's throat. He gulped it down slowly. His face visibly relaxed and his breathing became easier.

Sage relaxed as well, but she made herself keep her eyes on Eldred. She knew the sickly-sweet scent of decay, which meant that at least one person in here had a infection that wouldn't be pleasant to look at.

Sandry sighed and closed the jar. She motioned with her hand and led the trio outside. "My Uncle sleeps here with the rest of the people, but he insists on remaining in the guardhouse during the day with the rest of the guard. He says he wants to be able to give orders on field without having to bother with runners or waiting for reports." She said it grimly, as if this had been a matter of disagreement between them.

She brought the group out of the hall and into the corridors. Taking several turns; left, right, left, left, right, left, right, Sage remembered, she brought them to a room right inside the front gates. "This room was changed into a guardhouse and base, now that outside is too dangerous." Sandry said. She ran her finger down the door, like she did at the entrance to the hall, then opened the door.

Duke Vedris looked up from a pile of papers and grinned. "Ah, my favorite niece. How are things going?"

"Well, Uncle, now that I've found what set off my alarms." Sandry said, indicating the three.

"And who might you be?" He asked them.

"Sage, Clay Mage."

"Alida Falstaff, Musician Mage."

"Comas Draden, Weaver Mage."

"There is another, a boy, currently unconscious and in the Infirmary." Sandry added.

"That was Eldred fa Ashe, Artist Mage." Sage said.

If anything, the Duke looked more intrigued. "fa Ashe did you say? Was that the boy who rode with the letter from the Keep?"

"Yep. It's killing him, knowing he set us up for an invasion, so I wouldn't mention it if I were you." Alida said.

"Yeah, all he has to do is look out a window for a reminder." Sage said. Alida casually stepped on her foot.

"Hmm, yes. Now, where did you come from? I was informed that the boy was currently at Winding Circle."

"Well, the thing about that is-" Sage started, but Alida cut her off.

"We've discovered our magic and it's potential and wanted to help." Alida said. "Our powers can help you!"

"I am grateful for your offer, but noble intentions do no good when it comes from four half-trained mages." Duke Vedris said gently. "If you want to help, you can lend aid in the Infirmary."

"Excuse me-" Sage started, but Alida shot her a look.

"We also should warn you. The army is not only after Summersea and Winding Circle, they want _you, _Your Grace. You can give them Emelan if they capture you. Our best hope is for you to escape and for us to defend while you go and muster aid."

The Duke looked at her. "And what led you to this conclusion."

"We heard Honored Moonstream talking to Lark." Alida said unashamedly.

"Well, I'll take the warning at face value then." The Duke said, then stood up. "I understand the risk, but I cannot leave my men and my city at the mercy of these _barbarians._" The Duke said the word with vehemence. "I understand now that the attack at fa Ashe Keep was probably just a distraction for me to send most of my army away to a location remote enough that it would take them a few days, but that changes nothing. This is my city, and I will defend it until I cannot raise a sword or shield."

The Duke motioned to the door. Sage shot Alida a look. "Please?" She whispered. Alida looked at the Duke for a moment before nodding imperceptibly.

"Thank you." Sage turned to the Duke. She whipped out a dagger and slammed it into the wood of the desk, piercing the stack of papers and pinning them to the desk. The Duke looked up, shocked.

"I don't know how much experience you have with frecking big armies, but I'll let you in on a little secret." Sage began, speaking forcibly through her teeth. "When a group of mages offer you their help, usually it would be best to accept said help. As a former member of Company 7 of the Mercenary Guild, I can tell you that this force will not be turned away by sheer numbers, and we do not even have that on our side." Sage straightened up. "The fact is, the only way to win is through tactics. Estimating the number of battle mages they probably have, the only way to win and turn this army away will be through magic. If we had enough men, I could probably point out the weakest spots in the army, but we could through the entire garrison at them and barely make a dent. Hell, we could pick up every able-bodied citizen in this whole frecking city between the ages of 12 and 50 and not even begin to make a difference."

"Magic is the only thing we have on our side. That, and the fact that they dare not attack until they have you safely on their side of the grounds is the only reason we are not rotting corpses in a sea of bloodshed." Sage continued ruthlessly. "If we don't give in, the army could literally starve us out. Or they could attack the city and see how many child bodies catapulted at you it will take before you surrender. We are offering you our help, and the smart thing to do would be to take it."

Sage pulled her knife out of the desk and walked out the door, before the Duke could speak. Alida and Comas looked at the Duke for a few seconds before following her out, leaving Sandry with her Uncle.

After a moment of silence, Sandry spoke. "I would take their advice, and help, Uncle."

The Duke sighed. "I wish I could, but I couldn't sit easy knowing I sent out four half-trained child-mages against the whole of one nation's army."

"Were my Circle and I so different?" Sandry asked. "We were ten when the pirates invaded. You saw what Triss did. Comas is twelve, and the others look about his age or slightly older."

"Your Gift and the others were suited for that task. You also were the most powerful ambient mages seen in over a century. An artist, potter, musician, and weaver will not stand a chance."

"How will you know unless you try?" Sandry said, then turned to leave. She opened the door, then looked back. "The girl is right, we need help. If the rest of Winding Circle will not help, these four kids may be the only chance we've got."

She was about to close the door when the Duke called. "Niece?"

She opened the door a little and looked back. The Duke sighed. "Fine. See what they can do, then assign them duties. You have the most experience with this type of thing."

Sandry smiled and nodded.

She turned the corner to see Sage, Alida, and Comas staring at her.

"Well? Is Sage going to lose her head?" Alida said.

"I don't want to lose my head…I'm very attached to it." Sage said.

Sandry grinned and gave them the thumbs up. "Yes!" Alida said, pumping the air with her fists.

"I knew it would work, my diplomatic skills are brilliant to a fault." Sage said.

Comas wrapped his hands around her head, then brought the circle in front of his face. "Just what I thought." He said sadly.

"What?"

"You're suffering from a swelled head." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, whatever." Sage said.

Sandry led them off into a side hall. "From what Sage said, it sounds like you have some skills you can offer. Please tell me." Sandry opened a door and led them into anther room. It looked like a workshop of a weaver, with a spinning wheel, baskets full of yarn, and many embroidered wall hangings. "This is my workshop, it's warded against eavesdroppers."

Sandry turned to them. "Now, I'm supposed to judge where to put you to help. So, let's hear what you can do."

Sage looked at Comas and nodded. As a pair, they both stepped back, letting Alida stand in the front. Alida turned to glare at Sage, but she was looking off in another direction innocently. "Alright, Alida, you first."

Alida shot one last glare in Sage's direction, then turned back to Sandry. "I'm a musician mage. My mentor is Moonstream. Music influences the soul, so I can tell the emotions of those around me. I can tell if someone is lying. If I use an instrument, I can project my emotions onto those around me. I can recognize a person's specific feeling if I've met them before. I brought a few instruments." She said, and pulled out her harmonica and pennywhistle.

"Hmm." Sandy said, then thought for a moment. "Maybe you could help interrogate someone. We found a spy a few hours ago, but haven't been able to get him to open up."

"I'll try my best." Alida said, then stepped back. She slid her foot under Sage's and pulled, making Sage fall forward. She caught herself instinctively, but had to take a huge step forward.

"Sage then, you next."

Sage turned back to Alida with murder written on her face. Alida smiled and wiggled her fingers at her. Sage turned back to Sandry. "I really haven't had time to get to know my magic like Alida, but I have done a lot in the past few days." Sage pulled Steve out of her pouch at her hip. "This guy, for example." Sandry blinked in surprise as the living clay sculpture cocked its head at her and flipped out his tongue. "I don't know how, but I think I made him come to life. Anywho, I also was able to fill in this massive gap in Winding Circle's walls by manipulating the earth, and can somehow sense what the earth is sensing. But, like I said, I haven't had time to fully explore my magic. Peregrine hasn't had time to teach me very much."

She stepped back, putting Steve on her shoulder. Then she remembered something. "Oh yeah, and Steve can swim through earth like it's water, and I think I can see what he sees if I try hard enough." Alida and Comas turned to her, accusingly. "What?! I just found out on the way here." She said defensively.

Sandry thought for a second. "I'll put you on the wall. You said you had training in the field with a mercenary company?" Sage nodded. "Good, give any insights you have to the commander in charge, and send Steve out looking and scouting."

She came to Comas. "And you?"

Comas looked down. Being with his friends had made him less reticent, but talking to Lady Sandry still gave him the shakes. He started to mutter. "I, uh, can see magic, place a trace on mages, and can find bits of magic floating around and weave it into things." He said quickly.

Sandry looked down at him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'll find someplace for you." She promised. She stepped back and looked at the mages. "I was only ten when the pirates attacked, so I know how you must be feeling right now. But I trust in your abilities, and I trust you to do what you feel is right." She looked to Alida. "What of Eldred? What can he do?"

Alida frowned. "I don't really know what Gingergflower's been teaching him, so I think you should ask him yourself when he wakes up."

Sandry nodded and turned to leave. "I'll go talk to my Uncle. In the meantime, go back to the hall until I come back for you." Alida stopped her.

"Uh, I don't know how to ask this politely." She began.

"Then don't." Sandry said, smiling.

Alida gave a weak grin. "Alright. I was wondering if you could show us how to combine our magics, like you and Briar, Triss, and Daja."

Sandry looked at her for a moment, considering. "I'll think abut it. We'll talk about it after Eldred wakes up." Sandry closed the door softly, leaving the three together.

Sage looked at Alida. "I thought you had forgotten about that."

Alida shrugged. "So did I."

"It was worth a shot." Comas said.

"Right." Sage said unconvinced. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a black paintbrush and a certain colleague of ours."

The two looked at her uncomprehendingly. Sage stared back. "Oh, come on. When am I going to get another chance like this? Plus, I think Red would look rather dashing with a mustache." She said, grinning evilly.

**Note: Sorry if there are a lot of grammatical and spelling errors in this, I wrote it a little late at night. Thanks for reading, through it anyway. Not much commentary on this one, just a thanks to you awesome people for continuing to R & R. **

**Reviews submitted by: lady knight keladry, Kathy, The knights who until recently said Ni, SpectralLady, Jellicle in the Box, and Mithrilsword Magechild. **

**Story Alert Added by: SpectralLady**


	12. Circle Remade

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Twelve: Circle Remade

**Beginning Note: I am so, so, so, so, so ,so SO sorry I didn't update sooner! Between after-school swim practice, theatre rehearsal, and homework, I've barely had time to check my e-mails. Once, again, really, really sorry.**

Eldred woke up to whispers above his head. Almost like the thoughts came from outside him, he put voices to names. _Sage, Alida, and Comas. _He thought slowly. He opened his eyes.

"He's awake!" Alida said. Sage's face filled his line of vision.

"Hey there, sleeping beauty, about time you woke up! I was getting ready to dump you in the lake myself. I tried screaming in your ear earlier, but Alida threatened to stuff my mouth with cotton. Well, Lady Sandry did, anyway. Alida wanted to bind and gag me." Sage said it rather loudly and cheerfully.

Eldred wanted to ask them some of his burning questions, who was Lady Sandry, what happened, where was he, etc. What came out, was, "I'm going to be sick!"

Alida seemed prepared for this. She grabbed a nearby chamber pot and thrust it under Eldred's mouth just as his lunch, breakfast, and a lot more came gushing out of his mouth.

After he finished, Alida gingerly moved the pot away and placed it under the bed. The smell was pretty bad, but they were still concerned about Eldred. "How do you feel?" Comas asked.

"Curious." The others stared at him blankly. Eldred looked at them. "Why did it taste like tomatoes, I didn't even eat tomatoes."

"Oh no, he's in shock." Sage said. She pushed Alida aside. "My two-second cure." She pronounced, then slapped Eldred across the face.

"OW! What the heck was that for!"

"I don't know, it just felt right."

"You're insane!"

"I'm an insane GENIUS!" Sage said.

Holding his head, Eldred sat up cautiously. "Foregoing the insanity, what happened and where am I?"

"You over-extended yourself magically." Alida said.

"Yeah, good job loser." Sage said with a thick accent.

"We got through the window," Alida said, ignoring Sage, who was making faces. "And met Lady Sandrilene fa Toren. She brought us into the Keep. You're in the Infirmary."

"I'll go tell her you're awake." Comas said, then dashed out.

"Why does she need to know that? I'm not going to have to take some nasty medicine, will I?" Eldred was thinking back to when he was sick with fever a year ago and had to drink a noxious tasting mixture from his mother.

"Nope, she just needs to know." Alida said, avoiding Eldred's gaze.

"That way, she can teach how to weave our magic together so we can go and kick some barbarian butt." Sage said brightly.

"SAGE!" Alida half-yelled.

"Oh sorry, was I not supposed to tell him that?" Sage said, unabashed.

Alida groaned.

"Lady Sandrilene is going to show us how to weave our magics together? But that's fantastic!" Eldred said, ripping his sheets off and trying to stand. Al;ida pushed him back firmly.

"This is exactly why I didn't want you to know." Alida said, glaring at Sage. Sage grinned back toothily. "When Sandry gets back, she'll tell us whether we can do it or not, and if you are well enough _to _do it. You used a lot of energy manipulating that storm, and you might not have enough magic to put into whatever we use."

Eldred shook his head impatiently. "But if it works, I can just borrow it from one of you." He said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. Whoa. You are not borrowing some of my magic without permission, Art-boy. I'm still recovering from that last big working. Sort of. And anyway, Alida and Comas are still fresh, take some from them!" Sage said.

"Hey!" Alida said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hold on, lets just wait until we actually make this circle first. Lets not bicker, and argue about who has more magic than who." Eldred began. Just then, the door to the Infirmary opened. Comas stepped in, along with a girl a little taller than him, a noble look about her with brown hair tied back with ribbons. Lady Sandrilene.

"Lady-" He started, but she held up her hand.

"Not another word from you until I've had a look at you. And it's not 'Lady' anything, just Sandry." Sandry said, and stepped over to his bedside. She looked at him appraisingly. "Follow my finger." She said, and moved it from side to side. His eyes tracked it's movements. "Touch your nose." He obeyed, feeling rather stupid as he did so. "Now with the other hand." He complied. "Alright, you seem fine. If you start to get a headache, don't hold back and ask one of the healers for some willow-bark tea."

Sandry pulled up a chair. "Your friends have informed me that you are trying to form a Circle, such as I did with my friends. Is that correct."

Eldred nodded mutely.

Sandry sighed. "Gods know we could use help. My sisters and brother are traveling, so we can't be of any assistance together." Sandry looked into the distance pensively. She shook her head and looked at the four surrounding her. "If you truly want this-"

"We do!" Alida said. "This is our home, and we would do anything to defend it."

The others nodded their ascension. Sandry looked each one in the eye before nodding. "So be it. Follow me."

She stood up. And walked to the door. Sage followed her, then Comas. Alida waited until she saw Eldred could manage on his own before following. Eldred brought up the rear.

Sandry led them to a room across the hall from the main camp. She opened the door, ushered them in, then closed and locked it. Sandry pushed all the furniture to one side, clearing the middle of the room. While the others were still looking at her bewildered, she pulled a thread out of her pouch and began to draw a circle in the air with it. The string hovered two feet above the ground. Sandry completed the circle, enclosing her and the four within it.

"That should hold any strange magic we have until we are finished." Sandry sat down, and indicated the others should too.

"First off, I must admit, I have no idea how to go about this."

"WHAT!" Sage said. Sandry held up her hand.

"Ours was formed under severe pressure, when we all feared for our lives. I don't know if it can be duplicated, but I know we have to try."

"Would facing an army of far greater strength than our own with less than a snowballs chance in high summer of living to see next week with absolutely no hope of help arriving and knowing that any second a properly placed cannon shot could bring the whole of ten tons of rock crashing around out heads be considered severe pressure?" Alida asked. "I think we can do it."

"Well said Alida! Hear hear!" Sage said.

Sandry smiled wryly. "Point taken. Now, I'm going to tell you the story of my friends and I before we decide what to do." Sandry took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment, she started talking. "I had just been rescued from a magically encased room. My entire family had been killed from sickness, and the only person who knew where I was had been killed. I was left in the dark for a long time, my only light what I could capture for myself with my thread magic. I didn't know that was what it was, only that it saved me. I was ten." Sandry took another deep breath. "Nikalarnen Goldeye found me. I was blinded by the light. I had to be blindfolded for weeks before I could stand light again. I've been terrified of the dark ever since."

"Not that this isn't fascintating, but how does your troubled childhood help us exactly." Sage said.

Sandry opened one eye. "I'm getting to it." She closed it again. "As I was saying, my friends and I were taken by different means by Niko to Winding Circle. I won't trouble you with their tales. Somehow, he knew about our talents, and took us to where we could learn to use them. I never asked him how he knew it. But, we all didn't fit in in the regular dorms, so we found ourselves placed in Discipline. Gradually, we discovered our magic and found teachers. Briar and Rosethorn, Tris and Niko, Daja and Frostpine, me and Lark. We trained together, learned together, and began to trust one another as we thought we never could. Then the earthquake came." Sandry took another deep breath.

"We were buried under the earth, cut off from the light and all that we knew. I have never been more terrified in my life. The darkness was absolute." Sandry shuddered.

"What did you do?" Alida asked quietly.

"We saved each other." Sandry smiled, remembering. "None of us could do much apart, but together, we were strong. I used my first piece of thread I ever wove. It had four lumps in it, evenly spaced out. Each of us took a knot, and pushed our magic into it. The thread became a circle, and we escaped, taking with us what we had learned. We went in friends, but still separated. We came out family."

"I'll ask you once more, do you want to do this?" Sandry asked, looking at them in turn.

Each nodded solemnly.

"I have a piece of string I wove." Comas said, drawing out the thread.

"I have four beads I made." Sage said, pulling out her beads.

"That'll have to do." Sandry said. She took the thread and put the beads on it. She tied it off. "Each of you take a bead."

They scooted in closer, till they were touching elbow to elbow. "Now, push some of you magic into it. Place some of your self into the bead…"

Her voice trailed off. Each of the four was caught in their own thoughts.

Sage held her bead stiffly. She thought about her Company, those she had loved and lost, her coming to Winding Circle, and meeting the others. She felt…whole. As much as she had cared for those in Company 7, there was a difference of companionship. They were her allies and friends, but they were still men many years older than her. There were a few women, but they were dangerous, and hardened to her. Here, with people her own age, it was so different. In Alida she had a part-time friend, easy going and not afraid to defend those she loved. In Eldred, she had someone she could tease and yet still be able to trust her back with him in a battle. With Comas, she had someone she could bring up, a purpose in life. Her clay magic was linked to them, and to the earth. She could feel it slipping into the bead. She opened her eyes and watched as it turned a golden-brown color, shining brightly.

Alida clasped her bead between her palms. Her music was filling her, carrying the tune as her thoughts reflected on her life and being. Her parents, the wonderful times she had before the plague, playing her instrument to all of the people, glowing with their praise. The song turned sad, reminiscing about her struggles with the budding magic, the fear of playing her violin, the agony of the emotions of those around her. Then, the tune turned emotional, telling her of what she had gained from the ashes of her old life. Magic. Friends. A greater understanding of the world around her. A Rebirth. Sage; the first girl to approach her in the new environment, the one to tease her without fear of what Alida could do, the one who kept her looking on the bright side when it seemed lost. Eldred; a boy she knew she could rely on to keep the group together, who had a strong side to him that would endure when others failed. And Comas; the one who had found her magic for her, had found herself. He had saved her, and she would never forget that. The song poured from her soul and into the bead. She opened her eyes to see it pulsing a steady pale-blue.

Eldred rolled the bead between his thumb and forefinger. He was reflecting on how his life had changed so drastically within the past few weeks. He visualized it as the circle of the color spectrum. It started out blue, in calmness, the good life of caring for his family and learning. Then it began to fade to red, as the few weeks leading up to the attack created an aura of foreboding throughout the land. True red emerged during the actual fight. It began to change again as he remembered riding out to deliver the message. Yellow for how he recovered and the few days spent in the Infirmary with sage. Green for when his run. Coming full circle to blue again, for his few days with his friends. With Sage, who he knew he could trust to keep him steady and to pull him back from being too wrapped up in something. With Alida, who he knew he could count on to remain loyal and help the others when he could not, who he knew would care when he wouldn't dare to. And Comas, who was a good friend, and would stand by his friends, whom Eldred could rely on to find magic where there was none before. And now it was coming full circle again, changing to red as the impending battle approached. Eldred gritted his teeth and pushed the string of colors into the bead. He opened his eyes to find a softly glowing red bead in his palm.

Comas curled his fist around the bead. He remembered how much his life had changed in the last few days. Had it really only been a week? His shyness, which had crippled him from the time he was young. At Winding Circle, he had felt it more than ever, before he was finally moved to Discipline. Even with Lark's help, he hadn't really started to heal until Alida came. Alida: a patient friend, who would help and guide him when he needed it, who stood up for him and finally got him to admit his magic to Lark. Sage: the joker who had gotten him used to normal interaction with people, had managed to coax him out of shyness without him realizing it. Eldred: the other boy in the house he could count on to back him up if Sage was being a little too mean or Alida a little too caring. Eldred had let him come on the trip, and he wouldn't let any of them down. He wove his magic into the bead, and opened his eyes to see it sparkling white and throwing off glitters of all the colors of the spectrum

He looked up to see the others holding their own beads in their hand and Sandry lokign at them proudly. "And so a new Circle enters Summersea." She said.

"Those imbeciles won't know what hit 'em!" Sage exclaimed.

**Note: Hope you liked it. It's only the second week of school, so hopefully the homework will lessen or I'll get used to it. Meanwhile, keep looking for updates on the weekends. **

**Kudos to:**

**Reviews: imakeladrygirl, lady knight keladry, Meisha Marie, Abbs of the faeries, and Iceo.**

**Alerts: GoonlaLagoon **

**Favorite Story lists: GoonlaLagoon and MeishaMarie**

sorry if I spelled Niko's full name wrong.


	13. Time to Go

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Thirteen: Time to Go

Sandry gathered each person bead and strung it on the line, forming a complicated knot at the end like decoration. She offered it Comas. "You keep it. You wove the thread, it is yours."

Comas raised his hands. "No way, I'm not keeping it. That's a necklace. Besides, Sage made the beads."

"Oh no you don't, I don't wear jewelry!" Sage said.

"Alida?" Sandry held it towards the other girl.

"No, give it to Comas, we wouldn't have a circle without him." Alida said, taking the beaded necklace and handing it to Comas' protesting hands.

"Besides, you don't have to wear it, just hold on to it." Eldred said. Comas glared at him. Alida took it and knotted it around his left bicep. "Just hold on to it until we get back."

"Get back from what?" Sage asked.

"Well, you didn't think we were just going to wait here did you?" Sandry said with a wry smile. "I only assigned you those jobs temporarily. Now that you have a bond and have therefore increased your magic, lets get down to business." Sandry stood up and stretched.

The others followed suit, wincing as feeling slowly returned to numb muscles. Sandy rolled up the line of string and opened the door to the room. A soldier was waiting outside, out of breath.

"Message for Lady Sandrilene." The soldier said, snapping to attention.

"Yes?"

"A messenger from the enemy camp is here to see the Duke. We decided you would be the one to send him with his tail between his legs back to his grounds."

"Show him to me." Sandry said firmly. The guard bowed and beckoned them to follow him. The small group walked through the gates to see a proud looking young man on a black stallion. The horse pawed the ground and glared at the lowered pikes the soldiers wielded in his direction. The silver bridle flashed in the light, glinting eerily. The young man matched his horse, tall and arrogant. He looked down his hawk-like nose at the soldiers below him distastefully, as if he wished he could just trample them right then but a higher power was reining him in. His black eyes turned toward Sandry and the other mages, and his chin raised just a trifle. His polished black boots had red piping along the rim, and black underclothing was studded with silver metal. Gold bars were sewn down his sleeves, and a red cape flowed out beside him. A saber hung at his left hip, though, it was, as Sage noted, 'a stage toy'.

He raised his hand, palm down, horizontally toward Sandry. He opened his mouth and a oily voice issued forth, spewing forth with malice and arrogance. "I come from the Nation of the Muerte. We command tribute in the form of the Duke of Emelan. You have until sunset of this day to hand over the Duke, or we burn this _cesspool_ to the ground, killing all filth in our path." The man sat back on his horse, confident in what their answer would be.

Sage gritted her teeth. The people of Summersea were _filth?_

Sandry turned to Sage, knowing what the girl was thinking. "I think we should treat our guest here properly, don't you." Sandry's eyes glinted with hate.

"Of course, we should give him a proper send off." Sage said politely. Sandry gave a small nod with her head.

Before the man knew what was happening, Sage whipped around and motioned at the ground. The earth shot up, encasing the horses feet in mud and clay. Sandry mirrored the motion, and the man's cape whipped around him, binding him tightly. Every article of the man's clothing assisted, moving like water to hold him down. Eldred flicked his fingers and a stream of wind hit him off the horse.

"Have we a cannon?" Sage asked one of the guards. He looked confused for a moment, then realized what Sage intended. He grinned. "Right this way mi'lady." Sage nodded at Eldred and he grabbed the messengers legs. She grabbed his arms and together they hauled him up onto the ramparts toward a cannon.

She dropped him unceremoniously. "Oh how the mighty hath fallen." She quoted.

Sandry knelt down and grabbed the man's chin in one hand, squeezing his cheeks and turning his face toward her. "Take our answer back to you leader won't you?" She said grimly, then pushed him down. "Into the cannon." She commanded.

"Any last words?" Alida said as the guards moved to take the man.

He glared at them and worked himself into a kneeling position. He spat at Sandry, though she dodged neatly. "You have chosen unwisely." He growled. "You, and your family, and your friends, and your people will burn in the ashes of our fire. The sea will run red with the blood of your kin, and none shall survive this day. None can oppose the Might of the Muerte Nation and live!" He spat again, this time hitting Sandry's boot. She kicked the man.

"That just means our victory will sting even more when we win." Sage said, and added another kick just for good measure.

He started screaming obscenities at them in a language none but Sage could understand, and she stood the wave without batting an eyelash.

The men hauled him to the cannon ruthlessly. Sage placed her fingers in her ears when the soldier approached with a match. "Let's see how far we can blast him." She commented to one soldier. He grinned at her and added an extra handful of gunpowder.

The fuse was lit, and the gun kicked back with a jolt. Alida put her hand to her brow, straining to see into the distance. She whistled. "I think he knocked over some tents over there and a lot of people seem very upset for some reason."

"I hope they get the message." Eldred said.

Sandry had watched the scene with little or no emotion on her face. "We're not out of this yet." She commented quietly. She turned to the others. "It's time to test your abilities. Let's try to slow them down. We need to buy some time before they attack."

Eldred shrugged. "I think they'll hold off until sunset, just to make sure the Duke isn't really going to be handed over to them."

Comas looked at Eldred with his eyebrows raised. "I don't think they're that dense."

Sage snorted. "If someone's stupid enough to come into an enemy stronghold with a theatre prop as a weapon, they're stupid enough to do anything."

"What do we do about the horse?" Alida asked.

"I'm not riding that thing." Eldred said, leaning over the wall to get a look at the stallion. The horse was straining at the earth bonds and screaming, trying to get a bite out of the closest soldiers.

Alida's eyes were strangely unfocused. "He's afraid. He wants to get back to his mares in the stable. He wants to get out of this strange place with the strange people and their swords."

She blinked and her eyes focused back in. They were staring at her with mouths slightly opened. She shrugged. "I read his emotions, they're pretty similar to human emotions." She said.

She stallion let out another scream and tried to bite another soldier who was trying to get a rope around his mouth, closing on air with an audible snap.

Sage patted Alida on the shoulder. "Why don't you calm him down with some soothing music while I take care of the massive army on our doorstep."

Alida stuck her tongue out at her and turned to the horse while Sage took a few steps toward the parapet, rubbing her hands together.

Eldred stood by her shoulder. "Are you sure you know what you're doing."

"Absolutely not." Sage said. "Not that that's ever stopped me before."

She pulled her hands into fists by her sides, then crouched down. She closed her eyes and reached out with her "fists" to underneath the earth, stretching her power into a barrier along the outer rim of the army. In her real self, she took a step forward with her left foot and thrust her fists up to head-height. She opened her eyes to see a wave of earth rise and crash down on the first ranks, leaving a deep gorge between the army and Summersea. Sage took a few steadying breaths, grateful that exhaustion hadn't set in quite as deep as last time. She looked to her friends and saw that they looked a little pale, but no more exhausted as she did.

Sandry observed her work with a calculating eye. "that should hold them for a few hours, at least until they get their war mages to build a bridge. Or if their generals is truly crazy, force the front lines into the pit until they can walk across a bridge of their dead. And even that would not put a sizable dent in their numbers."

Alida's heart sank as she realized this was true. "What can we do then?"

"We split the lock from the key." Sandry said, turning away from the wall.

"Nice." Sage said with a grin.

"What?" Comas said.

"I said 'Nice.' " Sage repeated.

"No, what do you mean." Comas said.

"She means," Alida said. "That we split the army from it's leaders. If we take out the war mages and the generals, the resulting commotion would put a stop to the threat."

"Especially if we have a mage that could, oh, I dunna know, plant a seed of panic into each person causing them to bolt at the slightest fright." Sage said.

"Nice." Eldred said.

"Alida, Comas, you two stay with me here. Sage and Eldred, get ready to ride out." Sandry said.

Sage and Eldred nodded and ran down the stairs and into the Keep to get their weapons. Or, in Sage's case, get a few more.

Comas and Alida turned to Sandry. "Why are they going out and not us?" Alida demanded.

Sandry laid a hand on Alida's shoulder. "Because you are the key to this operation. If we are to succeed, we need you safe and ready to deliver that mind-blast. Comas, you are the weaver and have the circle. You need to stay here to relay to us what Sage and Eldred are doing mentally. You need to also give them orders."

Sage and Eldred were back a few minutes later, thought Alida was still sulking about not being able to go. Comas hated to admit it, but he was slightly relieved to not be on the front lines. He knew Eldred was right when he said that Comas would slow them down on the battlefield, at least he could do some good for them, even if it was behind safe walls.

"I sent Steve out to find out where the war mages are." Sage informed them. " I told him to find the large gathering of academic magic, gave him a whiff of it from an old kitchen charm and he was off. Should be back fairly soon."

Sandry nodded. "Try to also find out what they used to absorb the Lightsbridge mages power. It would be good to know that we can count on their aid."

Steve was back in two minutes, chattering in his strange language. Sage picked up mental images from him and pieced it together with what she had seen from the battlements.

"The mages have set up a mobile workshop in the far western corner, backing the sea." Sage said. "There are about thirty of them, all dressed in purplish-black robes embroidered with strange symbols. They have several incense burners, and many strange powers and books." She looked at them. "We're going to need horses to get there, but will leave them before we cross the trench and move on by foot."

Sandry nodded. She turned to the gathered soldiers and beckoned forward with one hand. A servant led two horses; a bay mare and a skewbald gelding, toward. They were already tacked out and had saddles ready. Sage chose the mare and hopped up. Eldred copied her movements, but didn't land quite as softly as she did, to the geldings disapproval. The horse snorted and shifted under Eldred's saddle.

"Until we meet again." Sage said. She turned her horse out of the gate. Eldred looked back once, but soon followed Sage out. The feeling of déjà vu weighted him down. This was just like the night he ha ridden from his family keep. He shook the image out of his head and gritted his teeth. _This will not be repeat of that. _He thought savagely. _I will see them again! _

From the walls of the Keep, Alida watched her friends ride until they were specks on the horizon, singing softly a song her mother used to sing to her when she was sick. Alida had sung it to her mom the few days before she died.

_Stay strong little one,_

_For the world is a dangerous place,_

_Stay strong brave one, _

_And you shall be granted grace_

_Hold on little one,_

_For the fight has not yet begun,_

_Hold on brave one, _

_For the fight is not yet won._

She heard Comas come up beside her. She opened her hand by her side, and wordlessly, Comas took it. They stared at the spot where Sage and Eldred had disappeared for a few more moments before turning to the Keep. Like Sage and Eldred, their fight was not yet begun.

**Note: Okay, so a somewhat cheesy ending, but I thought it sounded nice. Anywho, sorry for the two week delay for this chapter, I swear high school teachers are demons incarnate. I'm going to have to say that the chapters from now on are going to be posted somewhat sporadically and I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be. I still promise, cross my heart and hope to die, that I WILL finish this story. Now for my annual thank you party:**

**Dee Puchala, Daylight Katana, LackOfColorHere, Abbs of the faeries, Kathy, and, as always, Jellicle-in-the-box and lady knight keldary for their reviews. **

**princesspeach13 and Rosefighter for their addition of Circle Remade to their Story Alerts.**


	14. Fashionably Late

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Fourteen: Fashionably Late

**AN: The chapter title has more to do with the 10 MONTH BREAK between updates, for which I apologize from the bottom of my heart. School caught up with me, along with real life, and before I knew it, it was summer break, and I can FINALLY finish this up. Hope it's worth the wait!**

Sage and Eldred had abandoned the horses rather quickly after departing from the Keep. The nature of their espionage mission made it a wiser decision to carry on on foot, and after releasing the horses into a prime spot for causing trouble, the pair scurried away as the resulting chaos of two very angry horses invaded the mess tent. Sage then made Eldred sneak into a tent and procure some regulation uniforms for the pair of them.

"I swear, I have no idea how anyone doesn't suffocate in these things! I'm sweating buckets!" Sage choked, pulling on her collar.

"Maybe it's designed to make the soldiers woozy from the heat so they won't question orders?" Eldred said uncertainly, trying to figure out how the buttons on the front of the coat worked.

"Well, I can tell you, it's working." Sage said.

Eldred, giving up on the buttons, nodded towards the sea. "Come on, we're running out of time. Where'd Steve get to?"

The aforementioned gecko popped out of the earth a few feet in front of them, chirped, then dove back down. "He's got the scent back." Sage said, grabbing Eldred's hand and beginning to yank him along.

"Sage, wait! We've got to blend in!"

"Blend in how? By acting like arrogant prigs about to squash a city less than one-tenth of the army's size?"

"Just….act casual."

Sage rolled her eyes. "I'll get right on it."

The resulting thirty-minute walk to the rear of the army gave both Eldred and Sage time to be alone with their thoughts. Eldred was trying to come up with a feasible plan for diverting the army. He was sure Alida's power of emotional control was the key to it, but he didn't know how it would work. Her power seemed mostly to carry on sound, and single cry couldn't carry all the way across the half-mile long army. Eldred thought about what he could do, but artistry would take some thought and creativity, none of which he had time for. Gingerflower had told him how patient one had to be for the perfect moment to find a thought and paint it in its entirety. Sage's little trick back there had been handy for a quick fix, but it wouldn't take much time for the generals to build ladders to cross the gap or use any number of war machines to cross the gap, and Comas, well, Eldred wanted to be kind, but right now, he just couldn't see a way a weaver mage's power could help anybody.

While Eldred pondered these grave thoughts, Sage was meanwhile trying to keep from tripping over her long overcoat. "Bloody, useless thing!" She growled. "Who the hell designs a uniform more likely to kill a man than the enemy's swords?" She was concentrating so hard on trying to get it to fit right that she tripped into the path of a commanding officer, galloping quickly down the rows of tents.

The horse reared back with a startled whinny and Sage fell back on the ground with a cry. "Out of my way, underling!" The officer shouted. Having got his horse back under control, urged his horse forward; running through the spot where Sage sat, whether she was there or not. Sage was panicking; she rolled over and began to stand up, but tripped over her coat. She rolled over to see the horse bearing down on her…

When a large pile of horse dung sailed through the air, landing with a resounding splat in the man's face. He fell off his horse with a yell; the freed gelding, thoroughly fed up with the entire matter, leaped over Sage and kept running, barreling through several tents and knocking over many more.

Sage hid a laugh behind her hands as she looked over the man to see Eldred, fingers outstretched in what she called "paintbrush mode", standing by the muck pile behind the stables.

The officer stood up and wiped the horse crap out of his eyes angrily. "Who threw that? I will have their guts for garters, their liver were strew, their head on a plate!" He whirled around, momentarily forgetting about Sage as he tried to regain a scrap of his lost dignity by publicly punishing whoever had shown insubordination.

Of course, all heads turned to Eldred. "YOU!" The officer shouted, his face red beneath the covering of horse poop and a vein in his neck throbbing. "You will pay for this!" He stalked over there, looking for all the world like a raging bull, wheezing. He was about to punch Eldred through a tent before a well-placed rock knocked him into the entire muck pit.

While the men were still laughing at the officer as he struggled to push himself out of the stinking mess, Eldred ran over to Sage as they attempted to make their clean getaway. No such luck. Another officer coming over to investigate shouted at them, and the pair looked back to see the new man yelling, "Seize them!"

"I shall take this as our cue to make a like a tree and leaf!" Sage said to Eldred. He didn't reply, but grabbed her hand and began to drag her along behind him as the shouts grew closer. She yanked her hand out of his and sprinted alongside him.

"This way!" She yelled, motioning him one way. He didn't hear and kept running forward. She hid behind a tent at the main mass ran after Eldred, quickly taking care of the few who spotted her.

Wiping her sword on the ground, she looked around for Eldred. "Bloody hell!" She swore. Looking about wildly about, she snagged a horse from a line and kicked it into a gallop, quickly coming into sight of Eldred. The boy was clearly weakening, and the mob was close on his heels. "Bloody frigging hell!" She swore again. "C'mon!" She kicked the horse on the side and urged him right in front of Eldred. She grabbed his arm and hauled him up.

"Nice of you come with the cavalry." Eldred said into her ear.

"Don't mention it. Ever." She said back and wheeled the horse around, dodging tents and people while the chase continued.

Suddenly, she pulled sharply on the reins. "Damnation in a sock!" Another mass coming towards them from the front.

"They must really hate us." Eldred said.

"For some odd reason, I don't take that as a compliment." She said, turning the horse down another tent corridor. "We got to ditch the equine!" She shouted, as the wind whirled past them. "On three, jump. One…" An arrow whizzed past her head. "Three!" She jumped off, hitting the ground on her shoulder and rolling to lessen the impact. Eldred stayed seated a bit longer before jumping off the horses other side to land on the opposite side of the "street".

He sat up and yelled, "What happened to Two?"

She ran over, "It saw your face and died. Come on!" She tackled him, pushing him into a tent.

The pair sat with their backs against the cloth wall, desperately trying to control their breathing. They sat for five long minutes after the sounds of the pursuing crowd faded.

"Brilliant plan, Sparrow." Eldred said, invoking the name of the brilliant military tactician who had won several sea battles throughout Emelan history.

"Well…it worked didn't it." She said, standing up with a groan. "Though of course I have no idea where we are." She looked around. The tent was full of myriad weapons and guards uniforms. A rack of keys stood in the corner.

The pair left through the true door of the tent and looked around.

There were several cages housing prisoners in a wide arc surrounding the tent. "The tent must be the guardhouse for them." Eldred said.

Sage snorted. "Gee, you think?"

"I know that voice." A faint sound came from one of the cages toward the center. A hand pulled a thin frame into a standing position. The prisoner seemed vaguely familiar, then Sage noticed that the clothing he was wearing matched the seal on Eldred's ring, or the one he had been wearing when he was first brought into the Infirmary.

"Father?" Eldred said hesitantly.

"Eldred." The eyes seemed sad and his voice spoke of weariness. "So you were captured as well?"

"No, no! I made it to Summersea, and the Duke, and I found out I'm a mage and this is Sage and we came to help and I can't believe you're here!" Eldred ran forward, grabbing his adoptive father's hand from within the cage.

Nathilred fa Ashe looked him, exhausted. The man seemed to have aged countless years since the three weeks he had left. Now that Eldred looked around, he could see many familiar faces among the caged people. "What happened?" Eldred said, shocked.

"Three days after you left, Candelas broke through the ranks. We were all captured and placed in these cages and pulled here. I don't know what they plan to do with us, but I can't think of anyway out. About ten minutes ago, the guards all left, leaving us alone. But what's this about you being a mage?"

"That was us." Eldred said apologetically. "And I found out I'm an ambient mage and use art magic." He grinned wanly. "I suppose all that sketching in the practice yard may have done some good."

"I suppose so." Nathilred said, trying to smile back.

"Don't worry father, I'll get you out of here, and our people. Sage?" He turned.

She was standing behind him, dangling the keys on her finger. "Looking for these?" She said.

"Thanks." He grabbed the keys and began unlocking the door. He swung it open and passed another set of keys to his father. "Come on, help me!"

He ran off, before realizing no one had followed him. Sage looked up from where she was unlocking cages. "Come on father, we need to get the other cages unlocked."

Nathilred shook his head. "I'm sorry son, but my men are tired. We've already tried to escape and they killed ten of our party as punishment. I cannot risk it." The men were nodding their agreement.

Eldred stared. "But we have to help Summersea, the army is attacking soon and my friends are back there."

"And mine are dead or imprisoned. I cannot risk their lives needlessly."

"NEEDLESSLY!" Eldred exploded. "The only needless thing here is hesitation! You taught me that standing up for yourself is worth dying for, and now you're changing your mind! That is just..." Eldred backed off.

His father shook his head. "I'm sorry Eldred. You'll understand my decision when you're older."

"No! I won't understand when I'm older because you taught me to stand true to my word and not go down without a fight, not cower behind bars."

"Is it wrong to want to live, Eldred? We don't even know if any of us can make it to the Duke, let alone be strong enough the help!"

" 'Every sword is another potential to strike the target.' " Eldred quoted.

"You have learned well. But the answer is still no."

"BLOODY FRIGGING HELL!!" He screamed and swiped his hand. The cage bars blurred, then disappeared completely. Breathing heavily, he stared his Nathilred down. "Now you have no bars to hide behind."

"So much for blending in." Sage said in the background.

Nathilred fa Ashe looked at his son, then slowly nodded. "Alright, if this is a display of power, than maybe we have a chance after all. Perhaps I have been a bit hasty in giving up hope. You have grown, Eldred." He smiled. Nathilred turned back to his men. "What say you?"

One soldier stepped forward. "Our pledge of allegiance still stands firm as ever, my lord."

Sage stepped up. "Well, it's a good thing then that I unlocked all the cages during your family reunion." She said. Prisoners were streaming out of their cages and raiding the guard's tent for weapons.

"Get some uniforms for the men, then get to the Duke as fast as you can." Eldred said.

"And so, the student becomes the teacher." Nathilred said. He laid a hand on Eldred's shoulder. "I'm proud of you." Then he rushed off to get a sword and organize his own men.

Sage grabbed Eldred's arm. "Now, come on, we've got to get back on the trail to the mage's tent."

Eldred nodded, looked back once more at his father's retreating back before turning forward. "Alright, we should probably free some of the other prison camps."

xxx

Twenty minutes later, Sage and Eldred were tied up and slung behind an officer on a horse. Sage looked over at Eldred. "You know, maybe I'm just new to this whole 'rescue' thing, but I think this is a bit of a step backwards, wouldn't you say?"

He just rolled his eyes at her, unable to say anything through the gag while one was quickly tied around her mouth.

xxx

Comas paused on the ramparts. Alida was pacing behind him back and forth. "Why haven't they said anything, they should have given us some message by now." He said, looking behind him.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." She said walking up beside him and standing to face the army. Simultaneously, they both got a emotional message from Eldred. Alida's face drained of color. "Goddess preserve us." She whispered.

She turned and ran down the stairs, Comas right behind her. "Wait, what are we doing?" He called after her.

"What do you think we're doing? Going after the buggers is what!" She pulled the reins of two horses from a stable-hand and pulled herself onto one. "Come on Comas!"

Comas paused. A million possible deaths or injuries passed through his mind. He looked up Alida, about to tell her she was crazy, when he saw the anxiety and pain etched in her face. "Comas." She said, the pain layering her voice.

He sighed. "All right, let's go." He mounted the horse and let Alida lead them out of the gate and into the waiting maw of the army.

**AN: Blurgh, that long hiatus was not good for my writing style. I thought the fight scene between Eldred and his father was too choppy, any ideas on how to improve it? Also, what would be a good surname for Sage to earn? Leave your comments in a REVIEW and tell me. **

**Thank you party: lady knight keladry, Abbs of the faeries, Jellicle-in-the-box, Daylight Katana, Mithrilsword Magechild, catgirl Serenity, Isabel, and Isabelle of the Light for glowing reviews :)**

**Raining Silver, catgirl Serenity, and Isabelle of the Light for author alerting me**

**Princesspeach13, Lucky Tiger, catgirl Serenity, and Isabelle of the Light for making this a favorite story**

**catgirl Serenity and Isabelle of the Light for putting this on story alerts**

**catgirl Serenity and Isabelle of the Light for making me a favorite author**

**All the love makes my left arm go all warm and tingly :)**


	15. Reunion

Circle Remade

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Fifteen: Reunion

Alida and Comas crouched down behind a tent as Alida slowly spread out her awareness, noting all points of emotion near them and read their feelings. "Oh yes, Eldred and Sage were definitely here." She said grimly, drawing out of her trance. "They've left a feeling of panic everywhere. Though, strangely, there's also a feeling of vindication. No idea what that's about."

Comas shrugged. "Dunno. Where d'you think they've taken them?"

"I've got a pretty good idea about where, just not so sure about how to get there without being captured ourselves." Alida said. "Give me a moment to think." She stood up, dusted herself off, and peered over the tent. She narrowed in a soldier sitting outside his tent, idly shaving down a stick with his pocket knife until it was no more than a twig. He sighed and threw it onto the fire. "I got an idea." She said, dropping down next to Comas.

"Great, let's have it then." He said eagerly. As long as he wasn't directly involved…

"You're directly involved." She said. _Damn_, Comas thought. Alida drew out her pennywhistle. "I need you to go up to that soldier over there and act as pitiful and as scared as you can."

"No problem." He said, glancing over at the soldier. The one person outside the group he had approached in over a year. At least he wouldn't have to disguise his feelings…

"I need you to tell him that you and I are lost and need to get to the mage's tent. I'm going to be playing this and soften him up for the story." She looked at him apologetically. "I'd leave you out of it, but I can't talk and play an instrument at the same time. Shield yourself."

Comas took a breath and erected the strongest mind shields he could. Alida breathed in, put the pennywhistle to her lips, and blew.

The effect was instantaneous. Everyone and thing paused in whatever they were doing to listen, then wipe away a tear or two. Alida calmly continued playing, closing her eyes and letting the music surround her and flow outward into the crowd. She nodded at Comas, still keeping her eyes closed, to let him know to go.

Comas gulped and looked over at the soldier. He looked a lot less scary trying to blink away tears and fighting off crying, but he still terrified Comas. He turned back to Alida, who gave him a look that said, "What are you waiting for?"

He turned and tentatively stepped out into the lane of tents, trying desperately to make his limbs work and move him in more-or-less the right direction. With difficulty, he managed to shuffle up to the soldier, head down and arms clasped behind him. Looking vulnerable and five years younger than he was, Comas whispered. "E-e-excuse m-me."

The soldier looked down at him, startled out of some distant memory. "I beg pardon?"

Even quieter, Comas said. "I'm lost."

"Lost are you? Well that won't do at all." The soldier said kindly. "Where are you lost from."

"Th-the m-mages tent." He said to his shoes.

"There now, don't you fret. Eregard'll take you there." The soldier said, patting Comas on the shoulder.

Alida came out from behind the tent and stood next to Comas, still playing her pennywhistle. "My friend needs to come to." Comas said, scrunching his shoulders and trying to look as small as possible.

"Well then, let's go." The soldier picked up his sword and slid it in its sheath. "Follow me."

xxx

In the mages tent, Sage and Eldred were tied back to back around a tent pole. Steve had been captured and was strung up despondently from the ceiling. Sage was bound and gagged so tight she could barely move while Eldred had had the sense not to talk or fight on the way over and was loosely gagged. It was the work of a moment to slip off the gag. Unfortunately, they were still tied very tightly to the pole and his hands were bound to his sides, eliminating any possibility of manipulating his surroundings.

"Is this what wearing a corset feels like." Eldred gasped.

_Beats me, I've never worn one of those death-traps._ Sage said mentally.

Eldred spun to look at her as best he could. "Did you just say that?" He said, disbelievingly.

_No, it was the table. Of course it was me! _Sage said.

"Well don't do that too much, it's creepy." He said.

_Your face is creepy._

"Shut up!"

_You know, if you keep doing that, people'll think you're crazy. I mean, you're talking to yourself._ Sage said smugly.

Eldred groaned and rolled his eyes. "Of all the people in the entire world I could get stuck with tied to a post, why you?"

_Oh, you know you like it. _

"Do not!"

_Do too!_

"Do not!"

_Do too!_

"No!"

_Yes!_

"Absolutely not!"

_Absolutely…hey wait, did you hear that?_

"Hear what?"

_Shut up, I'm trying to listen. _Sage closed her eyes and sent out her awareness across the earth, about the only power she could exercise at the moment. She needed her hands loose to mold the earth, at least in this stage of her training. Peregrine mentioned those who could manipulate the clay and earth with a thought, but it would be years before she would be up to that level of control.

_Wait, that feels like…_ The ropes around them whirled off in a whirlpool of cords. Sage had time to pull off her gag before being struck by a flying, crazy haired creature.

"Agh!" She cried before noticing it was Alida who had attacked her. "Alida, personal space!" She said, wriggling out of the hug. Alida then turned her relief on Eldred, who didn't escape until she had planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Oh, come off it!" He said, rubbing his cheek. Comas stood in the background, grinning.

"How'd you find us?" Eldred asked.

"Oh, a girl has her ways." Alida said off-handedly.

"She played a soldier into taking us here and then made him forget all about the war and wander away very unsteadily." Comas said.

"Of course she did." Sage said, trying to straighten her clothes. Both she and Eldred were both still wearing the uniforms.

"What now?" Alida asked.

Eldred paused and looked about. "I think I can get them to tell me the how they've been sapping the Lightsbridge mages power. Comas, bind us again, but not as tight. As soon as I find out how they've been stealing magic, remove the bonds and let us take care of the mages."

"Right, and let you take care of those mage's all by yourself? Don't think so, Gingerflower Junior." Alida said.

"Don't call me that." Eldred warned.

"No, I see her point." Sage said. She looked about the tent. The linen sides were a rich purple color embossed with golden stars and moons. Everything about the contents was gaudy and garish, far too many colors crammed into too small a space. Almost everything was covered in what Sage identified as gold leaf and lapis lazuli, and strange incense burners gave the air a stifled quality. A few trunks were crowded in the corner. Upon inspection, the contents were several extravagant sets of robes and ceremonial objects of some sort.

Sage dumped the contents out and shoved them under the bed. "Get in." She ordered.

"You've got to be joking." Alida said.

"You want to help right? Well, shove yourself in there! And get a move on, the mages should be back from counseling the Warlord soon enough."

"Warlord?" Alida said before Sage pushed her into the trunk. She pushed a small chunk of clay between the lid and the bottom to give Alida some air before turning to Comas. He held up his hands. "I can do it." He sat in the trunk and arranged himself comfortably before Sage gently closed the lid.

Eldred and Sage now sat back to back against the pole, and soon the ropes sprung to life and wrapped around them once again, only not quite as tight. Everything looked normal to Sage's eyes, unless someone looked under the bed or in the trunks.

She breathed deeply and composed herself. She got back into the character of someone outraged at being trussed up and gagged, which wasn't very hard to do, and steeled herself to wait while Eldred did the same behind her.

They didn't have very long to wait. A few minutes later the group of four mages entered the tent, still chattering about advising the Warlord, whom Sage had gathered was in charge of the invasion.

"I still think we should have killed them outright." A scrawny, rat-like man said, glaring at Sage with beady black eyes. Sage grinned behind the gag in memory; she had managed to aim a good wad of spit into the man's eye before they had figured out she needed to be gagged.

"No, we need to question them." One of the women, the one with the air of complete confidence about her, pushed her way forward. "Our spells have nulled all magic in Summersea, and I for one am very interested in learning how these two how still able to use their powers."

**Whoo Hoo, Jess is back!! I'm taking my Speech credit in summer school, so the updates won't be as frequent as I would like, but still expect them every three or four days. I'm sorry that most of my old readers haven't re-found my story yet, as none of them have REVIEWED yet ( But I'm glad many more people have found it ) So yeah, nothing major in this section, expect a big action-magic-fight-Sage-kicking-butt scene next time. As always, the cookies of darkness compel you to review!**

**Mucho gracias catgirl Serenity, kitkat, DragonHuntress88, and BACswimma for reviewsies; micati, DragonHuntress88, and BACswimma for putting Circle Remade on story alert, and BACswimma for putting Circle Remade as a favorite story and putting me on author alerts. Ya'll are the reason I keep writing!!**


	16. Escape

Circle Remade

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Sixteen : Escape

The second mage who had spoken, the woman who was clearly in charge, knelt down next to the pair of them. "So, who are you and why haven't your powers been sapped." She looked at Sage first, then moved her gaze to Eldred when Sage gave her a look that said "Do you seriously expect me to tell you? Who the hell do you think you are?"

_Not one to mince words is she?_ Sage said to Eldred.

_Perhaps she needs to use the privy and is waiting to finish questioning us before going._ Eldred responded. _Ha! See, I can do it too!_

_Both of you shut up and listen to what she's saying. And Eldred…EW!_ Alida's mind voice butted in.

"I'm waiting." The woman said, a steel-cold edge beginning to creep into her otherwise melodious voice.

Eldred made some noises behind his gag, something that sounded like. "I'm trying to itch." The cloth over his mouth was muffling his words, but Sage heard what he was trying to say and smiled beneath her gag.

"Oh, where are my manners." The woman ripped the gag off, pulling a chunk of Eldred's hair that was caught in the knot with it.

To his credit, Eldred barely flinched and didn't vocalize his pain. Alida, Comas, and Sage winced though, hearing his thoughts all too clearly. He merely said, "Thank you, I was beginning to lose hope in any form of civility among fellow mages."

"Don't patronize me!" The woman held up her hand as if to slap Eldred.

"I wasn't trying too, madam. If you haven't noticed, my colleague and I are wearing your uniforms." Eldred said, laying on thickly a smooth, upper-class accent he had heard in his father's court.

_Bloody 'ell, you sound like a proper toff, you do!_ Sage said.

_Thank you. _Eldred replied.

The woman dropped her hand. "Go on."

Eldred straightened his back against the pole, trying to appear as dignified as one could under the circumstances, meaning, tied to a pole with a former mercenary at your back. "You see, we have decided that the Duke is quite the fool for deciding to hold out in order to show some semblance of bravery. Quite unintelligent. We have come to your camp in order to present ourselves as allies, and would like to hand the Duke over to you with as little bloodshed as possible."

_Nice plan!_ Alida said. _I hope you know what you're doing, however…_

"Your logic is sound, and you are all the wiser for thinking so." The woman said, seemingly pleased. "Your friend however…"

"Is rather short-tempered. She is new to Court, and is quite full of herself. Needless to say, she did not take kindly to being trussed up like a roast pig and carried here."

_What exactly are you trying to say Red?_ Sage said, warningly.

"We entered camp and stole uniforms so as not to be shot on sight, but an officer on horseback didn't pay her the attention she felt she deserved, and almost ran her over. She didn't take kindly to that at all and rubbed his face in the muck for it. I must apologize for the resulting chaos, I made the ill choice of fleeing, hoping to be introduced on better terms than having shoved an officer in horse droppings."

"We caught you releasing prisoners, you cannot deny it!" The weedy, rat-faced man who had been quite ready to do-off with the prisoners stepped forward. "If you were trying to join us, just how to explain that!" The man had a triumphant expression on his face.

Eldred looked bored. "If you're quite finished, I was about to explain that. The prisoners were escaping when we got there; we were trying to stop them when your idiot guards thought _we_ were the ones setting them loose and captured us. Idiots like them should be disposed of." Eldred sniffed. "So, are you going to take off these bindings or aren't you?"

The woman looked at him for a long time before nodding. "Very well. But, take one step out of line and you will be incinerated." She stood up and took a ceremonial curved dagger off a desk and cut the bindings in one movement of her arm. The pair quickly shucked off the wrappings and stood up.

_I got us out of the ropes, not DON'T MESS IT UP!!_ Eldred said.

_Do you really think I'd be that thick? Who do you take me for? _Sage answered.

_You don't want me to answer that. _Eldred said.

Before Sage could think of a biting reply, the woman spoke. "As we got off to a rather bad start, allow me to introduce myself. I am Lady Nightshade, Chief Enchantress to the Warlord, of the Muerte Nation. My colleagues," She waved her hand behind her dismissively. "Have no need for you to know their names. All information and questions must come through me. And you are?"

"Eldred fa Ashe, Artist Mage, Confident of Duke Vedris, of Summersea." Eldred bowed.

Sage plastered on a pleasant expression and said her bit. "Sage, Manipulative Earth Mage, Second Confident of Duke Vedris of Summersea."

_Manipulative Earth Mage?_ Comas asked.

_I thought it sounded better than 'Potter Mage'. More impressive like._ Sage said.

"Ah yes, which reminds me, how are you still able to perform magic with our drain on all the mages in Summersea?" Lady Nightshade asked, sitting down at a gilded wood chair. At least, Sage thought it was wood. It couldn't have been solid gold…

"We were hoping you could enlighten us about that." Eldred said. He remained standing, while Sage looked around for a place to sit. "I believe you made a calculative error in your manner of power draining. You see, there are two types of magic in Summersea."

Lady Nightshade straightened up indignantly. "Our spies made no mention of this-"

"It is very likely that they were not aware of it themselves. The main university, Lightsbridge, teaches the more common form of magic, the form I presume you practice?"

Lady Nightshade inclined her head an inch.

"It is called 'academic' magic by our nation. It is what most people think of when they hear the word 'magic'. However, your spies probably did not look twice at Winding Circle Temple did they? The second form of magic is trained and practiced behind those walls. It is called 'ambient' magic. The user draws his or her power from an outside source, usually a craft of some sort. For this reason, personal drains will not work, especially since your drain seems to be attuned to academic magic."

"Then why have your people not attacked with these am-bi-ent mages you speak of?"

"Simply because the gift is very rare, for it to be very strong, rarer still. My colleague and I are two such examples."

_Red, call me your colleague one more time, and I'm going to-_ Sage began to say before being interrupted.

"A demonstration, if you please. And don't make any moves of escape, or you will find your lives cut very short. Yes, I have noticed you two are only twelve years old or so, but if you can do what you claim, I'll overlook it."

Eldred glanced at Sage before sighing and raising his fingertips. He breathed in quickly, and suddenly the tent pole they had been tied to sprouted branches and began to grow a second canopy over the mages. A quick movement at a few of the incense burners, and suddenly the gilded objects were gone, replaced by a number of saffron colored birds. Eldred flicked his hand at the tent and the walls changed to a beautiful cerulean blue. He was about to go further when Lady Nightshade waved her hand. "That is sufficient."

She turned to Sage. "And you?" Sage gave her a mocking smirk, perfectly keeping with the character Eldred had picked for her, and stomped right foot on the ground once. The earth beneath the tent shook. There were cries from the other two mages while Lady Nightshade gripped the arms of her chair especially hard. Even Eldred took a few steps. Only Sage stood firm, as solid as a rock. A few seconds later, the rumbling stopped. Sage paused. _Wait, weren't there three mages with Nightface earlier…_ She said before her train of thought was interrupted by the Nightface herself.

"Very interesting." Lady Nightshade said, composed again. "You two will be excellent additions to our quartet." She stood up. "Perhaps you can help us correct the problem with the drain. I don't want to take any chances with a powerful ambient mage, especially if you two can do all that with such little age." She walked over to a wardrobe sized gilded case, covered in precious stones that created a complicated pattern that neither Eldred nor Sage could follow.

_There is strong magic around that case, Eldred._ Comas warned_. Be careful!_

Lady Nightshade made a complicated motion with her hand and the door creaked open a bit. She opened it the rest of the way and revealed what was inside.

An orb. A gold pedestal held the dimly glowing opaque, but yet transparent at the same time, orb. Not quite as magnificent as Sage had hoped, but she kept silent. Lady Nightshade stepped forward. "It took us fifty years, and cost us more than a hundred mages in power, but we did it." He look was triumphant. "Powerful spells, more powerful than one mage could handle, were cast onto this orb. I won't go into details, but suffice to say it acts like a bloodhound, sniffing out whatever it is cast to and with another modified spell, takes it. That is magic, what you see in there."

Eldred stepped forward, seemingly mesmerized. "With this power, you could take anything, why wait for the Duke?"

Lady Nightshade grimaced. "A slight problem. The orb itself is rather, in itself, fragile, hence the heavily warded case. It takes life energy to sustain it; it takes an army to move, and an army to sustain it. It is much easier to weaken the mages and wait for the power to fold to the Warlords whim. In such a manner, we have added hundreds of nations to our power since coming into the power of the orb."

Eldred thought on this for a moment before the rat-faced man ran back inside triumphant. "Lady!" He cried. "I knew I had heard the name fa Ashe before, and I've found it! It was the surname of that fiefdom lord we attacked to draw off the Duke's troops. His father and their troops were among those that escaped. Liars!" He cried.

_Nice going, paint for brains._ Sage said

Lady Nightshade whirled on them, furious. "Protect the orb!" She cried, raising her arms. Eldred acted without thinking. He raised his paint fingers and moved it around the Lady. With a cry of anger, Lady Nightshade began to turn into a tree, from the feet up. She struggled to move. "Get them, you idiots."

Sage turned to see one of the mages raising his hands. With a swift kick, she knocked him into the trunks, flipping the lid on Alida's trunk open. "Finally!" Alida cried.

Suddenly, they became quite aware of the absence of the rat-faced man, and the shouts and yells around camp. "Uh oh." Sage said.

Alida's face was set. "I'll take care of them." She said, walking out of the tent purposefully. Sage turned knocked the mage down again as he was trying to get up. With a cold gesture, a wave of earth rose up and crested around him, drowning his screams. Her next action was to release Steve, who pounced upon the final mage. She turned again to see Eldred had halted his transformation of Lady Nightshade.

Her legs up to her calf turned to roots, she was still a formidable opponent. Eldred and she were locked in a mage battle, him concentrating all his efforts on keeping her from attacking his friends. She shot a bolt of lightning at Sage, he turned it into a flock of doves. She sent a vase flying at his head, he painted it into a pillow. The wear was beginning to show. While she remained fresh, Eldred was feeling the strain. Completely changing something's nature was fast draining his magic, and Sage was beginning to feel it to.

She ducked the warring mages to get behind the pedestal. About to smash it, Lady Nightshade struck home. She maneuvered past Eldred's defense and hit him in the chest with a bolt of lightning. He fell back with a cry. Almost in the same motion, she turned and _pushed_ Sage with a blast of force. She was pushed into the tent wall and fell forward, loosing her grip on the orb. "No!" She cried.

Lady Nightshade called the orb to her. "Not that this wasn't enjoyable, but you forget I am a full fledged mage, and you are a pair of children, half-trained at best. How sad, that the Duke is desperate enough to send children to fight his battles for him."

"Not just any children." Comas said, standing across the room from her. He had a new light in his eyes. Sage, on the ground, started. She had forgotten about him until now, and had assumed he was still hiding in the trunk. "The Circle." He finished, and motioned.

Lady Nightshade's robes began constricting her, tightening around her neck. With a choked cry, she clutched at her throat. The orb slipped out of her hands. A strangled sound came from her mouth as she watched with wide eyes as the orb rolled away from her…under the waiting foot of Comas. Looking her directly in the eye, he brought his foot down.

The resulting blast, pressed Sage, Comas, and Eldred against the ground, and Lady Nightshade was rocked back as far as her roots would allow. The energy pressed around them, Sage thought she screamed, the room was filled with a blinding white light, the pressure and noise assaulting her ears were unbearable-

And then as suddenly as it began, it was over. The three slowly looked up from their crouched positions on the floor, shakily looking at one another. Lady Nightshade was gone.

Eldred stood up. "I guess enough of her energy had gone into it that she was linked, with the destruction of the orb, her body couldn't handle it."

Sage looked over at Comas, then shocked both of them. She hugged him. "That was frigging amazing!" She cried. Remembering herself, she cleared her throat. "But, um, did you have to wait so long."

He laughed shakily. "Well, if you aren't the wind beneath my wings."

Sage and Comas stood up and walked next to Eldred. "Come on, let's go." Sage said, pulling him away from the spot where Lady Nightshade stood. He shook her off.

"The power I felt there, in control as I turned her to a tree…" He held his hand to his mouth. "It was disgusting. I felt such power, such pleasure in her pain…" He trailed off.

Sage slapped him on the back. "Don't worry about it, she deserved every moment of pain."

"No, you don't understand." Eldred turned to her. "I scared myself. It was so intoxicating, the command over her, I didn't know myself for a moment."

"Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't exactly the time or place to have a philosophical discussion about this." Sage said.

"Shut up, Sage." Comas said, staring at Eldred.

Sage turned to him, open mouthed. "What did you just say?"

"Shut up." He stood next to Eldred. "I understand what you mean. Magic is a tool, some people have command over it better than others. It's yours to use as you choose. It is neither inherently good or evil, merely neutral. The choice lies in the hands of the wielder. You have a good heart, Eldred, and the rest of us are here for you. You'll have some time to think more about this, but just remember, we stand by you, and will save you from anything, even yourself if need be." He laid his hand on Eldred's shoulder before turning to face Sage. "Now let's go see how Alida is doing."

The two boys began to walk out of the tent. Sage shook her head and walked after them. "They both scare me." She muttered before lengthening her stride to catch up with them. After all, they still had one frigging big army to deal with.

**So…what do you think? Action big enough? Orb believable? Everything more or less spelled right? Why don't you tell me in a REVIEW! I'm not sure if I rushed the fight part too much, or should have changed the mode of magic drainage to something more…awe-inspiring, but I couldn't think of anything else. **

**Thanks to my awesome reviewers; Goonla Lagoon, BACswimma, SabbyRinaBanina, my long time reviewer Jellicle-in-the-box, Iceo, and my good friend rosindust. You all rock! Thank you GreysAnatomy and SabbyRinaBanina for putting this on Story Alert, with kudos to SabbyRinaBanina again and SakuraSerenityChiba for putting this as a favorite story and rosindust for listing me as a favorite author. **

**As a little side note, I'm currently beta-ing my friend rosindust's HP fanfic about the fall of Bellatrix Lestrange called "Descent". I think it's very good, and if HP is your cup of tea, then you might want to check it out. Yes, I am a shameless promoter of my friend's works and of the people I beta for )**


	17. Back to the Duke

Circle Remade

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Seventeen: Back to the Duke

After Alida left the tent to face the army, she stood a few feet away, frozen where she stood. A little more than a hundred yards away, what seemed like a veritable ocean of people crested the hill, bent on entering the tent and aiding the evil mages. Catching her breath, she reached for her pennywhistle at her side, panicked. She pulled it out of her side satchel…to find it had been broken in half by her hurried stashing in the trunk. Cursing Sage, she reached down to pick up her harmonica, but she fumbled and dropped it. Blindly, she ran her fingers around the ground, trying to find it before the army got to her.

She couldn't find it and looked up. The mob was picking up speed and starting to run toward her. She felt light-headed and dizzy. Who was she kidding, she couldn't do this! She was just a musician, what did she have against an army. She felt her wits starting slip away, overwhelmed with panic. Frozen in her kneeling position, she began to breathe faster.

Something caught her, though. She felt her mind refocus. Something was holding the panic back, some glowing presence. She didn't question it, not right then. Suddenly, she remembered Eldred saying something about singing her power. Another conversation came back on the tail of that one. _"Especially if we have a mage that could, oh, I dunno know, plant a seed of panic into each person causing them to bolt at the slightest fright." Sage said._

The two clicked. She quickly punched a few holes in her mind-wall, just as Moonstream had taught her, to focus her power on the army in front of her and away from the tent. Standing up, she took in a deep breath, then summoned up the panic she felt a few moments ago, letting the force between it and her fall. She opened her mouth in a scream.

It echoed across the battlefield, pure magic. Thanks to Comas, she could see the magic, but all the soldiers heard was a deep and powerful scream, one that struck fear and panic into their hearts. They paused where they were and covered their ears, most screaming themselves, and began falling over. Those who could began to run away, their hands over their ears and screaming.

Alida kept it up until she ran out of breath. She choked, trying to inhale too quickly and fell over. She looked up to see what damage she had done.

The army was in ruins. She began to laugh in relief, gasping because she hadn't recovered enough air yet. "You better run." She managed to wheeze. She shakingly got to her feet and was about to turn back to the tent when an arm reached out and grabbed her around the throat. She grabbed the arm with both hands, trying to rip it off her neck, but it held on firm. A knife pricked her neck.

"Nice try, mageling, but unlike the weak-minded, I have mind-shields up." She turned her head enough to see the rat-faced mage holding her, preventing her escape with his arm across her throat and the knife in his hand.

She stomped on his toes and with the brief lessoning of pressure, darted out from beneath his grasp. Alida turned to see him bent over, holding his foot. He looked up and hissed, "You'll pay for that, girlie!"

He began to raise his arm when a blast of pure energy erupted from the tent behind them. Alida raised her arms with a cry over her face and fell down. Her whole body was on fire with the energy; she couldn't breathe, move, see, hear, or feel anything, nothing but the pulsing force that surrounded her.

And suddenly, it was gone. She lay there for a few moments, weak from the event. _What in hellfires was that?_ She thought. Very slowly, she moved her arm and rolled over to look and see how the mage was doing. She blinked. He was gone, with nothing but a few furrows in the earth spaced like fingers to show where he had been. She closed her eyes and slipped into blissful unconsciousness.

xxx

Comas found Alida first. Sage and Eldred heard a cry and ran over to where he was kneeling beside a form lying on the ground. "It's Aldia." He said, looking up to see Eldred and Sage coming over.

Eldred pushed Comas out of the way and knelt next to Alida, putting his fingers on her neck. He motioned for absolute quiet while he moved his fingers around. A few moments later he drew back his hand. "It's alright, I found a pulse. It's strong and steady; I think she just attempted too much magic."

"Oh good, I was going to wonder why she would have fallen over from the energy-magic-blast thing and we didn't." Sage said.

Eldred stood up and slung the unconscious Alida over his shoulder. "That may have had something to do with it. We were close enough together I suppose our strength melded or something. Alida had no one to take power from."

"I'm going to pretend that made sense and go with that." Sage said.

"So…now what?" Comas asked.

Eldred turned to look toward the Duke's Keep; then looked back at the pair of them. "We need to get back to the Duke. Let's find some horses and go."

"I'll go." Comas volunteered. Before either of the other two could say a word, he was off. Sage looked at Eldred.

"Our little Comas is growing up so fast." She faked wiping a tear.

Eldred rolled his eyes at her and turned to see Comas riding in with two other horses' reins in his grasp. Eldred slung Alida up on one of them and mounted. Sage jumped onto her horse easily and took the reins.

"Eldred, do you want to lead?" Comas asked.

Eldred looked at Comas a long while before answering. "No, I think you should."

Comas looked surprised for a moment before nodding and turning his horse toward the Keep. The three urged their horses into a trot and began riding, their backs to the mage tent that was slowly being covered by a giant tree, the same one that Eldred had magicked from a tent pole.

xxx

Lady Sandriline paced in her uncle's study nervously. The Duke looked up from his paper's, amused. "If you continue any longer you will wear a hole in the carpet."

Oblivious of her uncle's jibe, she muttered to herself. "Oh, I shouldn't have sent them out like that alone, what was I thinking, two half-trained mages against an entire nation's army? And then Alida and Comas went after them…" She turned to her uncle. "How could you let me be so stupid and put their lives at risk! I should have gone out there my self with Pasco, not put mages who are not even my responsibility out there alone!"

"Sandry, you did the best you could under the circumstances. Now, as Duke, I order you to sit down before your feet fall off." Shooting Duke Vedris an irritated look, she sat down primly in the chair in across from the Duke.

There was the sound of hurried footsteps, then a rapid pounding on the door. "Come in." The Duke called.

The door swung open to reveal Pasco, Lady Sandry's apprentice dance mage. "The kid mages are back!" He said, standing up straight, addressing the Duke but looking and Sandry. "One is unconscious, but they seem relatively unscathed. We are also receiving messages from Lightsbridge that the mages are beginning to recover their power." He grinned. "I don't know what they did, but it worked."

Sandry shot out of her chair. "Where are they now?" She demanded.

"This way," Pasco motioned. "They've been asking for you."

Sandry followed Pasco at a brisk walk, as fast as she could without losing her dignity completely. They entered the courtyard to find four horses being held by stable boys and three, very dirty, very tired looking young mages, all of whom were smiling sheepishly at her. The fourth was lying on the ground and being looked at by one of the castle healers.

"What happened?" Sandry's tone cut off any arguments.

"Umm, well, see Sage and I were…" Eldred started.

"Going for the mages tent, just like you said, but then we…" Sage said.

"Sort of got tied up releasing prisoners and got captured…" Eldred said.

"By these psychotic mages." Sage continued.

"But then Alida and Comas came and saved us." Eldred said.

"And there was this orb thing that Comas stepped on…" Sage said.

"And there was a lot of bright light." Comas added.

"And long story short, here we are." Eldred finished.

Sandry looked at them hard. "What exactly was so difficult about just going to the mage's tent, hmmm? Why did you have to get caught up in some hero business? I gave you clear instructions; go the mage's tent and find whatever was sapping the mage's power. You acted impulsively and irrationally, and what's worse, you pulled Comas and Sage into it! It was dangerous and stupid, and once this is over, I will speak to you further. Do I make myself clear?"

Sage and Eldred looked up from where they were staring at their toes. "Perfectly." Sage said meekly.

"Now that that's done with," Sandry pulled all three of them; Comas, Sage, and Eldred into a hug. "Come, you must speak further with my Uncle and I." She motioned them into the Keep.

Sage and Eldred followed, thoroughly chastised, and Comas shot them apologetic glances. Pasco fell back to talk to them. "Don't worry, her bark is worse than her bite."

"Thanks. And you are?" Sage asked.

"Pasco, dance mage. I'm Sandry's apprentice." Pasco grinned. "Sandry told me about you, Sage. Seems you made quite an impression on the Duke."

Sage blushed, for the first time Eldred and Comas had met her. "I was hoping that would wash over."

Pasco laughed. "You buried a knife in his desk; I don't think he's going to forget any time soon."

Sage groaned. "I suppose I'll have to do something nice for him then. Like saving his city, I guess."

"I suppose _we_ will have to." Eldred said.

**So yeah, a shorter chapter than I usually write, but I'm thinking that next chapter will be the big finale, if not the last chapter. No real comments here, though I must say I'm much more satisfied with Alida's reaction to the orb being destroyed than I am with the rest of the groups. Oh well. As always, leave lots of reviews. LOL Lot's Of Letters. **

**Hmm, I wonder what thank you is in French? (Insert French word for Thank You here) to SabbyRinaBanina, BACswimma, GoonlaLagoon, and Jellicle-in-the-box for reviews. Sarbearsays added me as a Favorite Author, and blackkat09 added Circle Remade to story alert. Yay all!!**


	18. The Battle

Circle Remade

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Eighteen: The Battle

The new Circle stood on the city walls, waiting anxiously. The sun had long since passed the horizon, but apparently the chaos the group had caused earlier had sufficiently thrown off the leaders enough that they had put off the time-limit of sunset. The entire remaining garrisons were threaded among the top wall, waiting. A small breeze ruffled the pennants of the individual Companies. The waiting was horrible. All the smoke from the day's fires was hanging between the Keep and the army, obscuring the waiting troop's view of the enemy.

Sage was oddly silent and flipping a dagger around in her hand, one foot on the wall, staring ahead with a set tone to her jaw. Eldred was standing ramrod straight, feet shoulder length apart, a broadsword in both his hands, point down on the stone floor. Comas was biting his lip nervously and trying to make his shaking less apparent, as he tried to hold his bow steady. Alida was standing, relaxed except for her face as she tried to sense some inkling of what the enemy was doing, her eyes moving rapidly beneath their lids.

"I don't like it." Eldred said, squinting at the opaque smoke.

"They should have attacked by now." Sage said.

"And you're complaining about that?" Comas said, smiling weakly.

"Yes, because it means they're delaying for a reason. And with an army that big, any reason is bad enough to wipe this place off the map." Sage replied.

Comas gulped and brushed his bangs back as sweat broke out on his forehead.

"So optimistic, aren't you." Alida murmured, her eyes still closed.

"Realistic." Sage corrected.

"Either way, keep it down. It's not good for morale." Eldred said, tilting his head toward a group of soldiers who suddenly seemed very interested in the contents of the stone blocks.

The silence was shattered as a loud trumpet blared across the still plain. The sound of more than a thousand tramping feet created an ominous tone as close to every soldier on the walls tried to see through the mist. Eldred tried for a bit before letting out an exasperated, "For Mila's sake," and wiping away the mist with magic.

Sage groaned as she saw that the army had dropped rapidly-built ladders across the trench she had dug to form bridges. The army seemed to be crossing with little trouble, and all along the wall soldiers were muttering oaths and the sound of drawn steel was heard more than a few times as soldiers drew their weapons.

"Prepare to engage!" The Duke said from where he was standing on the wall. He had insisted on at least watching the battle begin, though Sandry was forcing him back into the Keep as soon as the mêlée reached a certain point.

Eldred held his sword out for a few moments, unsure, before sheathing it and getting his hands in position to work magic. He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth once before setting fire in front of the approaching soldiers, trying to turn them where he wanted them to go and redirect them to a less direct route to the citadel.

Alida briefly tried to play various instruments, but she couldn't be heard over the distance between the army and her. Frustrated, she turned around a few times before spotting a rat in the corner of the stable. She rushed down the steps of the citadel and whipped out her pan pipes. She reached into her memory of the stallion's emotion's that she had encountered earlier before beginning to play, awakening the rat's and other vermin's instinct to eat and find food outside of the nest. She directed the swarm out the gate's and to the army. That done, she rushed back on top of the walls to see how the battle was going.

Comas worked at unseating the cavalry by breaking the girth strap's on the saddles, keeping him reasonably occupied for the moment.

Sage took a deep breath and put her hand on the stone, sending her awareness out into the ground and finding where the ladders were. Grimly, she collapsed the points where they were attached to the ground, forcing her mind from the tiny impacts as individual warriors hit the ground. It took only a few seconds for each one, but there were enough to make it slow going, and for each one she struck down a new ladder was erected in its place. She spent about half an hour frantically trying to collapse all the ladders before Eldred grabbed her shoulder and shook her out of it.

"Incoming!" He shouted and pushed her to the ground. Not a moment to soon, for a large cannon ball shot over the air above them, striking a glancing blow to the Keep. Eldred got up off of Sage and pulled her up. "Forget the bridges, start protecting our troops!" He yelled over the explosions and deafening noise. He started to put action to words and started drawing fires in strategic points, namely, the over-large catapult and ballista platforms.

Sage turned to see Alida, unable to be heard over the noise, working with a group of knights to keep the cannons continuously moving. Sage took a deep breath, fought down the nausea from the smell of smoke and gore, and began tracking the movements of the catapulted boulders and stopping them as they neared the walls with a moved pillar of earth.

Despite their best efforts, the numbers of the other army soon began to push steadily forward, drawing nearer to the Keep. Soon, Eldred had to divert his attention to crowds of warriors getting too close to the walls, and Sage had to block arrows and bolas more often than boulders.

Alida shouted and fell down, a knife in her left shoulder. The moment Sage's attention wavered, an arrow found its way into her right hip. She cursed fluently and pressed a hand to the wound, trying to staunch the flow of blood. Alida yelled at Eldred and Comas as they both turned to help them, "Keep your mind on the army, we'll be fine." Sage leaned against the wall, gritting her teeth against the pain. Alida held her shoulder and crawled over to Sage.

"We can't keep this up much longer." Alida hollered over the noise.

"Tell me about it!" Sage said as she levered herself up just enough to push a ladder full of enemy troops off the wall. She pulled out a knife as an enemy soldier hopped over the wall and turned towards her. She threw it right into his eye, before hitting the stone to trip him over the wall onto another ladder. Sage shuddered; she hated having to do that.

Alida had her work cut out for her; her emotional shields were getting pushed to the limit in the heat of the battle. She tried to fight back tears and revulsion as she whacked oncoming enemy soldiers across the knees with her baton and sent them falling over the edge.

Comas was concentrating so hard on trying to collapse the ropes that held up the ladders he didn't notice until he was lifted off his feet that enemies had reached the walls. He was held up by the neck of his shirt as the soldier leered at him as he choked with fear. He flailed wildly and somehow managed to land a punch on the man's nose. Howling, he dropped Comas onto the stone floor, blood dripping from his broken nose.

"You'll never take me alive!" Comas shouted, trying to sound brave.

"Works for me." The soldier said as he stopped trying to check the flow and lifted up his sword.

Comas froze with fear and closed his eyes. He heard the sound of an arrow whistling through the air and thudding into something before cautiously opening one eye. The soldier was staring blankly at him, and arrow protruding from his forehead, before he slowly fell over the wall, into the Keep.

"Thanks Alida!" He shouted.

Alida looked at him. "It wasn't me, it came from outside!" She shouted back.

"What?" Comas thought he must have heard her wrong.

"Look!" All along the wall, the Duke's soldiers were pointing toward the field. Comas levered himself up to see a small army of men in blue riding from the right flank of the army, cutting a swath through the troops. 

"It's my father!" Eldred cried joyfully.

Comas could see a crest on a flag that matched Eldred's ring.

Eldred whooped with joy, pulling Comas off the floor. "Look, look, we're going to make it! It's all of my father's soldiers and the harrier coops that the Duke sent to help my family!" He said, smiling ecstatically.

"Eldred, get down!" Sage tackled his legs as a arrow on fire swept through the air over him.

"Father!" He yelled and pushed Sage off of him. He stood up and looked out with horror as the enemy archers turned their bows and fire onto his father's band of warriors. He saw his father take a hit before looking over at Alida wildly. "We have to do something now!" He screamed.

"I can't do anything; my music can't be heard over all this screaming!" Alida shouted back.

Eldred looked back over the battlements, panicking. "Dad!" He cried. He looked around the battlefield, but he was too far away to see any blue on the ground. _The ground…_

He knelt down next to Alida, pulling Comas down with him. "Alida, have you ever put your ear on a table when someone taps farther along on the table?"

"Yes." Alida said, unsure.

"You have a plan." Comas said, looking at Eldred.

"I think I do." He said, grimly. "Sound can travel through solid objects better than air."

"Oh!" Alida, said catching on.

Eldred looked at Alida. "I need you to send a panic sound out, alright? Sage, you need to channel the magic and sound into the ground and out into the army."

"I can do that without walking, right?" Sage said as she held a rag to her wound.

"What should I do?" Comas said anxiously.

"Comas, Comas…" Eldred said, moving his hand as he tried to get his brain to operate quicker. "I need you to sense out who is on our side and shielding them from the magic."

"Can do." Comas said, nodding.

"What're you going to do?" Sage asked Eldred.

"I'm going to set some fires to bottleneck them out into the ocean. They'll be so blind with panic they won't be able to stop themselves." Eldred said grimly.

Comas rolled off the bracelet from his bicep and held it out for the other's to touch and gain some strength from before putting it back on and beginning to shield the Duke's troops. After a few tense minutes, he said, "Alright, I'm ready."

Alida closed her eyes and took a deep breath before letting out a scream. The enemy soldiers near enough to hear her went into a blind panic and ran off the wall. Sage winced.

"Now, Sage!" Eldred said.

Sage rolled her eyes and grabbed Alida's ankle with one hand. With the other, she touched the stone floor of the Keep and sent the magic shooting out onto the battlefield. She let herself become a conduit for the magic, losing herself in it.

Eldred watched as the scene became immersed in chaos, the few seated harriers, easily cutting down the panicking enemy. He began lighting fires all along the border. It worked better than he had hoped, it didn't take long for the panicking troops to find the water. The wave of panic could be seen from the vantage point the Keep offered; it was possible to see the ripple effect as the magic spread farther through the troops.

The effort it took to control the fire's spread was draining him fast, however. He could see Comas straining with the effort of keeping the shields up, and Alida and Sage couldn't keep up much longer.

They kept going, all four of them, soon becoming used to the pain, before Pasco slapped Alida across the face. With the breaking of the pull, the four staggered as they released their prospective tasks. "You can relax, we've won!" Pasco said. Alida watched, confused as his face swam in front of her. His last words echoed in her head as she slipped into unconsciousness, as did Comas, Eldred, and Sage.

**Whew, another chapter done! I'm not so good with action sequences, so tell me how I did. So this leaves one more chapter before I close this story, thank goodness. Sorry for the long wait, my muse was being annoying and absent. **

**Give a round of applause to BACswimma, GoonlaLagoon, Isabelle of the Light (for four reviews) for their reviews, kunoichi42, XIII Dragon,Val-86 for adding Circle Remade to their story alerts, KitCat Italica for adding me to her favorite authors and adding Circle Remade to her favorite stories.**


	19. Afterwards

Circle Remade

Summary: Less than one year since "Magic Steps", Discipline cottage gets a few more residents. Three new young mages come to Winding Circle in unorthodox ways, adding to the young weaver mage who moved in after Sandry left. Though they come from different lives, they will have to remake a circle formed long ago with their predecessors if they want to save their new home…

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue.

Chapter Nineteen: Afterwards

It had been several weeks after what the city of Summersea was already calling the Battle of the Four. The citizens were having a hell of a time finding ways to dispose of the bodies, repair the sizeable holes in several important structures, find lost family members, and generally get on with life as a whole. But, as some long-dead philosopher once said, "Life will find a way."

The "Four" themselves were in the infirmary of Winding Circle, getting a last check-up before being released. It was a good thing too, as Sage was annoying the others with her constant whining about not being able to get up and walk around. They all had been bed-ridden for two weeks, unconscious for the first, and were just now being allowed to take a few assisted steps around the room. Apparently, even with the combined energy of the group, they still were susceptible when drained to the point of passing out. Then again, they couldn't exactly share power when there wasn't any to begin with.

However, there were perks to being the heroes of the day. The four shared a room all to themselves, and were allowed visits from their teachers, though at the request of Alida, no one who wasn't immediately important to them were allowed into the room. With her shields severely weakened, Alida felt she had enough to put up with by being subjected to the residual pains of other patients without having to deal with generals and courtiers oozing with self-importance fawning over them. Her bed in the left-corner of the room let her hide behind Eldred's bed when the didn't feel like talking, with Comas directly across from her and Sage next to him.

"I wish they would hurry up already." Sage growled. "I want to walk properly again!"

"At least you _will_ walk properly again." Alida reminded Sage. "If there hadn't been a practiced healer the tendons would never have knitted together properly."

Sage made a face. "Thanks for that vivid imagery."

"What are you doing, Eldred?" Comas asked from his position lounging on his cot.

Eldred had been staring out his window and came to with a start. "Oh, just wondering."

"About what?" Alida said.

Eldred shrugged. "Well, what we'll be doing now. If we'll go back to classes. If we will be assisting with the cleaning up. Those sorts of things."

"Well, you don't need to wonder any longer, because you'll be doing it for yourselves in a moment." Dedicate Rosemary bustled in with her tray of tea mugs. "Just gulp down this stuff quickly before your mentors come in." Once her back was turned, all four of the friends exchanged looks. While Rosemary was nice enough, the taste of her herbal medicine left much to be desired.

"I'll be back with your guests in a few moments." Rosemary said before departing.

As one, the friends heaved a sigh of relief and dumped their mugs of tea into the vases of flowers by each of their bedsides.

"One thing I won't miss about this place is _her_." Sage said savagely. "Well, one of several things."

"Sage, before the adults come in, there's something we wanted to talk with you about." Eldred said.

Sage raised her eyebrows. "Oh?"

Alida began, after looking at Eldred and Comas for verification. "You know how you told us you didn't have a surname because you hadn't earned one, officially, yet?"

"Yes...."

Comas took his cue. "Well, if anyone deserves a surname now, you do. So we," He nodded at Alida and Eldred. "Thought maybe we could give you one." At Sage's dubious look, he added hurriedly, "It was their idea."

"No, no, that's very…kind of you." Sage said. She gave them all a little half smile. "I guess you all are my company now, so if anyone has the right to give me a surname, you do." She swallowed her emotion. "So, what is it then?"

"We tried to think how we could combine your magic, a circle, and your mercenary heritage together, but decided 'Earthsword' was used too many times in festival tales." Alida said.

"So, after a long debate, we came up with one. How do you like the name 'Ironrose'?"

"Ironrose? I don't know how 'rose'-like I am," Sage laughed.

"No, no, no, 'rose' as in 'compass rose'. A compass has four points, like our circle, and every direction is pointing different ways, but all ultimately are connected to each other. And iron is used in some swords, and it's a metal, which comes from the earth." Comas explained. Looking proud of himself, he added, "I thought of that myself."

"Sage Ironrose." She tested each syllable. "Sage Ironrose." A pause. "I like it!"

The group barely had time for congratulations before the door opened to admit Peregrine, Gingerflower, Lark, Moonstream, and Nathilred fa Ashe.

"Awake and brimming with excitement, I see." Moonstream said with a serene smile.

"Yes. We are very glad to be of assistance at last." Alida said while returning the smile.

"You won't be out in the city just yet." Lark said. "You all will be becoming used to walking everywhere for some time yet."

"And, Eldred may not be here to help." Nathilred said. He stood beside Eldred's bed. "Son, it is time I returned to the keep, will you join me? It's time I began teaching you how to run the fife."

Eldred started. "Leave? Now?"

Nathilred nodded. "I need to get back and see what damage that worm Candelas caused."

Alida, Sage, and Comas looked at him nervously.

Eldred thought for a moment before slowly beginning to speak. "I'm sorry Father, but I believe my place is here. The keep will still be there in a few years, and if I'm to be of any use I should complete my mage training and learn how to rule myself before I try to rule our people."

Nathilred looked proudly at his adopted son. "I can respect your choice, Eldred. In that case, I still expect that you will visit, or send letters every now and again."

"Of course!" Eldred said, while his friends sighed with relief.

"Now that that is settled." Moonstream said. "Rest for a bit before we return to help you all back to Discipline." She surveyed them one last time before adding, "I am so proud of all of you," before departing. After the mentors exchanged a few words with their students, they followed Moonstream out.

After the door closed, Sage broke out in a huge grin. "It's a good thing you elected to stay Eldred, otherwise I would have had to knock you over the head and stuff you in a sack to get you to remain here."

"Come on Sage, you know that never would have worked. Eldred would just paint himself out of there as soon as he woke up." Alida teased.

"Eldred, what do you think?" Comas said, glancing over to see Eldred had already whipped out his sketchbook out.

"What have you got there?" Alida asked.

"I'm drawing us." He said. "I don't want to forget this ever."

"Don't worry, we'll never let anyone, much less you, forget how amazing we were in battle." Sage flipped her hair back in an exaggerated motion.

"I bet you won't." Alida muttered.

Comas laughed. "There'll be no living with her after this."

Sage pouted. "I'm beginning to think you people don't like my style."

"Whatever would have led you to that conclusion?" Eldred peered over his sketchbook.

"Thems fighting words, sonny!" Sage pulled her pillow out from behind her and threw it at Eldred.

"Hey!" Eldred laughed. He picked it up and clumsily threw it back at Sage, but missed and hit Comas instead.

"Wotcher!" Comas took the pillow and threw it over at Eldred, who deflected it with his sketchpad into Alida's lap.

"Alright, now it is begun!" Alida cried, and threw the pillow at Sage, then took her own cushion and slammed it into Eldred's side.

The air was soon full of laughter and feathers.

**Author's Note: And so ends my first multi-chapter fic. Whew! What a journey! Almost three years, but I finally churned it out! It's been an amazing process, seeing how my writing has changed from the summer after eighth grade to now, when I've almost finished my sophomore year in high school, and I really need to thank my fans. Ya'll who have kept reviewing, favoriting, etc. have made this whole work a rewarding and incredible experience. If you reviewed, favorited, added me to alerts, etc. give yourself a pat on the back!! **

**Also, also, also, I'll be taking a break before I start my next epic-fic, so I'll be open to beta-reading anything you throw at me. **

**I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. And now, I shall ride off into the sunset, "Blazing Saddles" style! *cue music***


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